Maybe too much remembering can be as challenging, or worse, than forgetting. In the excerpt below, Ingrid Wickelgren, author of ”Trying to Forget,” offers a new slant on remembering and forgetting:
Tweet This PostFor over 35 years, before I became affiliated with AgeSong, I rarely went to jazz clubs, maybe once every few years. It’s a shame because I really love jazz and blues. Years ago, as a young professional in Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts, listening to top blues and jazz for the cost of a beer at Ryles Jazz Club in Inman Square was my favorite weekly evening event.
Having lived in the San Francisco Bay area for about 30 years, I could have frequented the jazz clubs, but I didn’t – all sorts of midlife work and bringing-up-family reasons - never enough time for jazz clubs. That is, until I met Nader Shabahangi, the Founder of AgeSong’s Assisted Living and Elder Communities in the Bay area. Last year, he enlisted my help to launch the Poetics of Aging Conference. In the process of coordinating the conference, I was fortunate to meet many top Bay area jazz singers, musicians, poets, storytellers and other creative performers.
Karl Pillemer, professor of human development in Cornell Univeristy’s College of Human Ecology, created the Legacy Project, collecting practical advice from elders. Read about “Lessons of Life” and listen to the elders.
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Faith Winthrop is performing this afternoon, Wednesday, January 11, 4 pm to 7 pm, at AgeSong, 624 Laguna Street, San Francisco. This performance is free and open to the public.
I met Faith through the Poetics of Aging Conference, where she performed opening songs before keynote speakers. Faith turned 80 at the conference. In a recent interview with Faith, she talked about what it’s like working into one’s 80s. Here is Faith’s view of aging:
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Deeper into the Soul: Beyond Dementia and Alzheimer’s Toward Forgetfulness Care, by Nader Robert Shabahangi, Ph.D. and Bogna Szymkiewiecz, Ph.D., shifts our attitude about Dementia. Rather than looking upon Dementia as a disease, we find that people with Dementia can teach us about life and living, and give us an opportunity to go deeper into our souls. We move from the medical terms “Dementia” and “Alzheimer’s” to “forgetfulness.”
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I first met Nader Shabahangi at a book presentation in Marin County on Conversations with Ed, Waiting for Forgetfulness: Why are We So Afraid of Alzheimer’s Disease?, a book he had just published with Patrick Fox and Ed Voris. Ed, who spoke eloquently at the presentation, and whose contributions to the book were profound, is afflicted with Alzheimers. I was moved to find that Ed Voris was not shut away with his affliction, but out in the world co-authoring a book and participating in book presentations.
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In my Activity Coordinator course, taught by Betsy Best-Martini at College of Marin, I leaned that residents of assisted living communities are no longer called “Grandma,” “ Mommy,” “Honey,” or “Girls.” They are called what they prefer to be called, just like the rest of us. What used to be called “patients” are now called “residents,” and “adult diapers” are now called “briefs.” They are residents of “elder communities,” not of “elder facilities.”
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Dr. Sally Gelardin, AgeSong Today
For an inaugural event, the 2011 Poetics of Aging Conference, sponsored by AgeSong Institute, was a splendid affair. Approximately 400 people attended the conference over the four days. What attendees liked best was connecting with like-minded people. As one participant commented, “The people were all so talented and so creative and compassionate. The presenters were all of a creative and of positive mind. It’s wonderful to see art being utilized for the worthiness that it is. It was very friendly and comfortable here.”
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