These past three weeks in LCS have been full of so many insights on the highs and lows of life, and I’ve learned much from the elders I’ve encountered. The Love, Care, and Connect event at the Gary + Mary Senior Wellness Center last week was a truly heartwarming experience. Before the event even began, I embarked on a coffee run for my group members and was approached by an elderly man in the café, who I decided to stay and chat for a few minutes after my order was ready. He was visiting from Ohio for a wedding and was encouraging me to come to this coffee shop every morning, presumably because it had become his “spot” while on vacation. Though I fled after he started talking about vaccine politics, I appreciated the conversation, as it highlighted to me at an early point in the day how having conversations with elders allows me to reflect on their life experiences and gain insights into my own life that I would not have had otherwise.
This coffee trip prepared me both spiritually and physically (don’t talk to me until I’ve had my morning cappuccino) to run the Conversations booth with Carmen, Christine, Haley, and Sharanya. We taped hearts to our shirts and asked people the questions written on them, receiving a beautiful array of insights on love, which we recorded on the same hearts and hung up on a string. One of the more memorable conversations I had was with a man whose name has ironically been lost to my subconscious. We exchanged advice on being romantic to one’s significant other, and although I was a little creeped out by his methods, I realized that he was chatting with me because he felt connected to a younger male, which made me enjoy bantering with him. Overall, the event went well, and I was fascinated by the uniqueness of each elder’s personality. I could see this reflected in the outfits of the attendees: the man donned in a full suit with a top hat to boot, and the woman in the flowing pink dress – they made me realize that aging brings one closer to their true self.
Another insightful experience I’ve had over the past weeks has been the memoir project that I did with my pappou (grandfather in Greek), Demetrios Protopsaltis. Giving my pappou the chance to share his story was (and always is) a riveting experience, as the man has lived an interesting life to say the least. Through his childhood in war-stricken Greece, his immigration and education in Canada and California, and his journey in parenting, I learned more about my family’s history and values. In sharing his early experiences, I also was able to connect with my pappou on the loss of his older brother, Alexi, at a young age – a loss which I have also unfortunately endured. Losing my brother, Theo, has undoubtedly been the most influential event in my life, and with both of them being the oldest sibling, I deeply understood the pressures that my pappou faced following Alexi’s passing.
Reflecting on these interviews, I feel excited about my future plans to move abroad to expose myself to different cultures, as my pappou did before me. I feel a deep connection to my family, and it was insightful to see how values have been passed to me through the generations. If I were to choose one major takeaway from talking with my pappou, it would be that family, blood or chosen, is one of the most important parts of human life, and must always be cherished.
This coffee trip prepared me both spiritually and physically (don’t talk to me until I’ve had my morning cappuccino) to run the Conversations booth with Carmen, Christine, Haley, and Sharanya. We taped hearts to our shirts and asked people the questions written on them, receiving a beautiful array of insights on love, which we recorded on the same hearts and hung up on a string. One of the more memorable conversations I had was with a man whose name has ironically been lost to my subconscious. We exchanged advice on being romantic to one’s significant other, and although I was a little creeped out by his methods, I realized that he was chatting with me because he felt connected to a younger male, which made me enjoy bantering with him. Overall, the event went well, and I was fascinated by the uniqueness of each elder’s personality. I could see this reflected in the outfits of the attendees: the man donned in a full suit with a top hat to boot, and the woman in the flowing pink dress – they made me realize that aging brings one closer to their true self.
Another insightful experience I’ve had over the past weeks has been the memoir project that I did with my pappou (grandfather in Greek), Demetrios Protopsaltis. Giving my pappou the chance to share his story was (and always is) a riveting experience, as the man has lived an interesting life to say the least. Through his childhood in war-stricken Greece, his immigration and education in Canada and California, and his journey in parenting, I learned more about my family’s history and values. In sharing his early experiences, I also was able to connect with my pappou on the loss of his older brother, Alexi, at a young age – a loss which I have also unfortunately endured. Losing my brother, Theo, has undoubtedly been the most influential event in my life, and with both of them being the oldest sibling, I deeply understood the pressures that my pappou faced following Alexi’s passing.
Reflecting on these interviews, I feel excited about my future plans to move abroad to expose myself to different cultures, as my pappou did before me. I feel a deep connection to my family, and it was insightful to see how values have been passed to me through the generations. If I were to choose one major takeaway from talking with my pappou, it would be that family, blood or chosen, is one of the most important parts of human life, and must always be cherished.