Saturday, December 19, 2009

Speaking at Retirement Communitis

When speaking at retirement communities I always meet such interesting people. I gave a talk this afternoon and the audience stayed engaged, laughed at my jokes and asked great questions. People also share their stories. On the sad side, one woman described being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in her fifties, took medication for seven years and then another doctor determined she did not have Alzheimer’s. In the meantime the medication took a toll on her and she had to quit her job. She had been through a lot of suffering and had a very unhappy expression on her face. She told me she hoped to be able to smile again. On the positive side, a man spoke up about how much he enjoyed living in the retirement home. He was a widower and was delighted at all the attentions he was receiving from the ladies.

2 comments:

Drew Harrison said...

Ah, the retirement home - this is the place where we can find a different kind of experience. That's in the sense that we'll get to be with fellow retirees who can be our companions in exploring this chapter of our life. Guess you could tell that each of the retirees that you saw has an interesting story to tell - funny to heartwarming ones.

Mike Befeler, author of geezer-lit and paranormal mysteries said...

You definitely witness the pathos of the aging process but also the vitality and sense of humor of many of the people living there.