Author: Memory Detecting

With the “in facility” Reminiscence Program on hold because of the Corona Virus it has given me time to reflect on some of your seniors life challenges and memories.

Your seniors and their parents have had so many challenging life experiences and memories. The greatest generation and others have experienced World Wars and other conflicts, and some seniors may remember the Great Depression. These events put a tremendous strain on them, their parents, and their family and community. Some have had up to 19 years in a row of stress and uncertainty during that period in time. The Great Depression started in most countries in 1929 and lasted until the late 1930’s. Black Tuesday was October 29^th 1929. This lead right into World War 2 that began in 1939 and lasted until 1945. So for many this was 19 years of a world that was incredibly trying and difficult. We have an opportunity to learn so much from them about hardship and more importantly how to have courage and determination to get through those hardships.

What memories do they have about that time? How did they deal with the stress and uncertainty? How did it effect their lives and the lives of their loved ones? As a relic hunter some of the artifacts I find relate to military life and or a time that may bring them back to these difficult times. How did they do it? From my interaction with seniors it seems to me that they just persevered, did the best with what they had, and were proud of their grit and determination. It seems for most that they were proud of their dedication and service for the greater good. Pride in themselves (although humbly), pride in their resourcefulness, pride in caring for their families and neighbors, and pride in their country

Our lives have all changed and have been disrupted by this pandemic. My children are at home doing their college work. Their days are now spent studying and taking classes on Zoom at home, and trying to stay connected to friends and maintaining a normal life. The risk of getting this virus has forced them (along with their parents) to have the food that is delivered to our home sanitized item by item. We also cant socialize and connect with others like we use to at a time that we really need to. Many have it much much worse. Job uncertainty and the risk of getting or infecting someone else is on ours minds at all times. I have currently quarantined myself from my family for many weeks now.  I have done this because I am working in an environment that has had many of my coworkers get the virus, and many patients at the organization I work at have sadly passed away from the virus. This period in time has been very difficult for all of us.

I hope that this challenge today will in the future make us all proud of how we responded and how we helped and supported each other. In many cases this crisis has brought out the best in all of us. We are  working together to take care of each other. I have seen so many acts of kindness in the past several weeks. Its heartwarming and amazing to see.

What will our memories be of this Pandemic? For some it will be tragic with the loss of loved ones. However, when we can catch a breath and Reminisce on these days I think this will be an opportunity. It will be an opportunity to remember just how resourceful, dedicated, and kind we were during this very difficult period.

Memory Detecting’s live “in house” Reminiscence Program is on hold, however our Membership Program is a great opportunity to continue your Reminiscence Activities with your seniors. Please check out the program on our website. You can trial for 14 days free.

Stay Safe and Healthy.

Steve

Many of your Seniors have lived for 70-100 years or more. During that time they have experienced so many things. While doing these programs I have been reminded of how much things have changed in the past 70 years or so. I have learned something each and every program.

Having a senior talk about having milk delivered to his home and how much he enjoyed the cream on the top was one such reminder. This gentlemen told me he would “fight” with his sister to try to get to the milk first to enjoy the cream at the top. This is just one reminder of how things have changed. Although fighting with your siblings hasn’t changed, how we get our milk has. We now simply go to the store and pick up our milk with no excitement about this task at all. The milk bottle itself probably wasn’t that exciting to this gentlemen but his memory of that time in his life certainly appeared to be.

Every time I do one of these presentations someone has a unique memory that is so personal and interesting. It makes digging in the dirt for hours at a time that much more rewarding. Whether its that milk bottle, or the butter churner that use to go into the mason jars to turn (literally) milk into butter. This is all part of a shared history, a simpler time. Can you imagine cranking on that butter churner to make butter? How long did THAT take!? Was it any good? Maybe that will be a question for the seniors at the next presentation.

Memory experts say that the time in our lives, somewhere between 12-20 years old, is the easiest for us to recall. My own experience has me believing that this is true. More importantly I have experienced that seniors seem to have the best recall of artifacts during this time in their lives. Toys and games, and in this case milk seem to bring out the fondest memories.

Until next time.