On Wednesday, February 21, 2018, the Life Course Scholars cohort met for its weekly class meeting. During this class, we presented our second round of Oral History projects. I was very touched and inspired by the stories that were shared by the cohort members. In addition, the projects were very creative. I found Kyle’s project, wherein he made memories off of wooden slabs very intriguing. I also enjoyed the fact that Iris’ presentation was written in Spanish, her grandmother’s native language. I appreciated Jackie’s emotional delivery of her project on her father. I enjoyed the hearing about the new-found knowledge Elizabeth gained from interviewing her uncle, as well as the bond the two developed through working on the project together.
My Oral History project focused on my maternal grandmother. During our interview, she discussed her wedding day, 25th wedding anniversary party, the premature death of her father—my great-grandfather—to suicide when she was 32, and its impact on her life, as well as her memories of watching her grandchildren grow up. During this project, I learned that on my grandparents’ wedding day, my grandfather forgot the rings, and he also did not make reservations for their honeymoon in Palm Springs, California. These memories made me chuckle because even at 76-years-old, I could see my grandfather doing the same thing today. The people they are now is not much different than the people they were on their wedding day when they were 19 and 20. They simply are, as the saying goes, "a little older, and a little wiser." At my grandparents’ 25th anniversary party, which my great aunt planned, and which hosted all of my grandparents’ family and friends, my parents announced that they were engaged, which was another fact I did not know and found surprising.
One of the things I have enjoyed so much about being a part of the Life Course Scholars Program has been the opportunity to interact with elders and get to know them on a personal level. These interactions allow for breaking down walls, stereotypes, and boundaries that serve as barriers to conversations that encourage mutual understanding, admiration and respect for one another. However, up until working on the Oral History Project, I had only done this with complete strangers during our site visits. My grandmother, along with my other five grandparents, played a very active and influential role in my upbringing. I had to come to know them from the way they had presented themselves, and the messages and values they instilled in me, while my brothers and I were growing up. However, this project allowed me to understand my grandmother on a deeper level, in particular, with painful experiences that she lives with on a daily basis, and has carried for over four decades. I feel that understanding elders in society on a macro scale is important for tolerance and better visibility and legislation for elders’ rights, but I believe that understanding the elders in your own life, if you are fortunate enough to have any, allows you to gain a better sense of family and how who these elders are played a role in shaping you into the person you are today.
My Oral History project focused on my maternal grandmother. During our interview, she discussed her wedding day, 25th wedding anniversary party, the premature death of her father—my great-grandfather—to suicide when she was 32, and its impact on her life, as well as her memories of watching her grandchildren grow up. During this project, I learned that on my grandparents’ wedding day, my grandfather forgot the rings, and he also did not make reservations for their honeymoon in Palm Springs, California. These memories made me chuckle because even at 76-years-old, I could see my grandfather doing the same thing today. The people they are now is not much different than the people they were on their wedding day when they were 19 and 20. They simply are, as the saying goes, "a little older, and a little wiser." At my grandparents’ 25th anniversary party, which my great aunt planned, and which hosted all of my grandparents’ family and friends, my parents announced that they were engaged, which was another fact I did not know and found surprising.
One of the things I have enjoyed so much about being a part of the Life Course Scholars Program has been the opportunity to interact with elders and get to know them on a personal level. These interactions allow for breaking down walls, stereotypes, and boundaries that serve as barriers to conversations that encourage mutual understanding, admiration and respect for one another. However, up until working on the Oral History Project, I had only done this with complete strangers during our site visits. My grandmother, along with my other five grandparents, played a very active and influential role in my upbringing. I had to come to know them from the way they had presented themselves, and the messages and values they instilled in me, while my brothers and I were growing up. However, this project allowed me to understand my grandmother on a deeper level, in particular, with painful experiences that she lives with on a daily basis, and has carried for over four decades. I feel that understanding elders in society on a macro scale is important for tolerance and better visibility and legislation for elders’ rights, but I believe that understanding the elders in your own life, if you are fortunate enough to have any, allows you to gain a better sense of family and how who these elders are played a role in shaping you into the person you are today.