"What Are Old People For?"

Hi to you all! I have completed "Still Alice" and Post Mortal" and will discuss those later, but I first want to address "What Are Old People For".

Wow! My initial thoughts were that this book would not be as interesting as the other books but I was certainly mistaken!
I started this book last evening and at 2 a.m., I had to make myself put it down. I realized that I have fallen into the narrow mindset described as "Declinism" and now I am most unhappy with myself for being there. I too had been looking at aging as a great decline. (This is partially because, being a nurse, I am constantly dealing with illness instead of wellness. )
As I was reading, I realized that I have witnessed this other aspect of aging, I just did not understand the impact of it.  I recognized the importance of the elderly sharing their wisdom and knowledge gained from life experiences in my own family but I did not view it as so vital to our society.  The studies in understanding the role of elders for the advancement and continuation of homo sapiens were a breath of fresh air. The incredible impact of 3 generational interdependence was beautiful. After all, how many of us have seen a grandmother coming in to assist the mother when a new child is born? How many of us knew that these actions were actually furthering our society and the success of our species? How would we feel if we died as soon as our reproductive capabilities had ended? I knew we needed each other but did not comprehend it so fully.

Looking at life from this perspective, I wonder what the impact of our current "global" world this will have on our species in the long run. As we are more mobile, moving away from our extended families, what will happen? There will be less "grand-parenting". The new generation will not have the benefit of their grandparents wisdom. The grandparents will be looking for fulfillment in their later years and their families are not there for them.
This serves as a direction as to what leaders in our communities should be looking toward.  We need to consider the development of more intergenerational activities on the community level. Combining the services of adult day programs with child day care and afterschool activities could help to meet these needs. CHild care in workplaces, not just for convenience, but as a means to the continuation of our species. Volunteerism of the elderly will become more important than ever to meet their personal fulfillment needs. These opportunities will also be a means for the youth of an area to learn the culture and to benefit from the wisdom of the many years of experience of the elderly generation even in the absence of their own grandparents.

My mind is racing...I can't wait to get back to the book tonight. I am interested to see if anyone else has started this book.

Happy reading!
Sandra