This year, the undersigned participated in a Yale research study for older adults residing in Forest Park. We’d like to share some insights from this experience.
Question: Who do you think forgets their jacket more often? Ten-year-olds or 70-year-olds? From approximately 1996 forward, one often hears the term “senior moments,” implying a state of decline or dementia. Recently on NBC, a weather reporter made an on-air mistake and, jokingly, said he had had a “senior moment.”
We now know from researchers who study cognitive processes that people vary greatly in brain function as they age. The above-mentioned reporter was in his 40s and, clearly, is forgetful. Memory loss and forgetfulness can be due to many conditions other than aging, such as head trauma, infection, mental-health issues, lack of sleep or nutrients.
What if, instead, we were to incorporate “wisdom moments” into our nomenclature? Moments that affirm accumulated life skills and an ever-widening self-awareness and identity that only arrives as we grow older? It is way past time in American culture that we emphasize the positive contributions of older adults. Let’s reward and celebrate this journey toward becoming one’s true self.
“The years teach much which the days never knew” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Brooke McMillin , Charlie Childs, Delores Wheeler
Active Community Engagement participants