I like talking to people. One of the things I enjoy most in my job and the area that I work in is that I find that the stories people have to tell about their lives fascinating and a part of getting to know someone, their needs, hopes and aspirations is knowing the past histories.
Often when I meet someone for the first time, we tend to go back in time and recall events that were significant and look back on how the past has created the present.
Yesterday, I met a woman and although not for the first time, it was the first time since she had been discharged from hospital. We chatted for a while and spoke about general kinds of things for a while – how things had been since she had come home, the kinds of things she wanted to do in the future, where we could go in the future both metaphorically and physically.
We began to talk about her children (there were photos up around the house and one of the ways I usually initiate conversations is by asking people to talk about some of the photos they have up and around in the house – I find its a good place to start.. ) . We then started to talk about the war (Second World War, that is!) and her experiences during the war – how her husband had been a soldier and she was evacuated out to Worcestershire.
‘Were you evacuated with your children then?’ I asked curiously. My own grandmother had been evacuated with my father who had been a baby and I was taken back to those stories I had grown up with.
She looked at me glacially.
‘I was 13 when the war ended,’ she said ‘I was a bit young for that’.
Filed under: elderly, old age, older people, social issues, work | Tagged: elderly people, elders, evacuation, old age, talking, ww2
I was once asked where I was when Kennedy was shot during a conversation at my first ever job. I turned round, laughing and said ‘My parents hadn’t even MET then’
OK, that’s bad!