How Caregivers Can Remember An Elderly Parent's Legacy
Capturing the life story of a senior can often be an activity that benefits both young and old.
"When I interviewed my mother about her life, my twin 13 year olds and my 16 year old were there," says Gibson. "Before our talk, WWII was a forgotten page in a history book. They were intrigued, but I think it will take them a while to fully realize the gift they had been given."
"It's very important for seniors to re-tell their stories, says Dr. Wendy Scheinberg-Elliott, Professor of History at California State University Fullerton. "It is important for families to be interested and heed the stories. Much lost if the younger generation doesn't take time to hear life stories."
Scheinberg-Elliott has taught hundreds of students how to gather oral histories since the early 1980s and has collected hundreds of histories herself. She's noticed that the process of talking with seniors often builds or strengthens relationships among family members.
"Oral history is very bonding. The students and young people make friends with the seniors; it creates a sense of oneness with the seniors," she says. The effects on seniors are empowering. They realize that they have stories to tell; parts of their life. Students are usually totally unaware of what life was like even a few decades ago."
Another benefit: senior storytelling often leads families to reconcile decades-long disputes. "People figure out that it really isn't important who gets mom's blue vase," says Elizabeth Wright of History in Progress, a personal history consultancy based in San Francisco.