This tima at our visit to Casa, we arrived and talked to our professors about our Healthy Aging Capstone Projects while enjoying the backdrop of the cool blue La Jolla sea. After debriefing about what we still needed to do to ensure a successful HAP, we walked inside to Casa to sit down with a few of the elders there to listen and learn about their life stories. The first man I talked to was Ed, someone I had talked to before. Ed is a very unique guy, as he was a pilot in the military and has seen much of this world through his career. Him and my dad were actually born in the same place, so that was a good conversation starter between the two of us. When we were talking to him in a bigger group, he went around the circle and asked each of us our majors and what we wanted to do with our careers. The second conversation I took part in was with a couple who were eachothers co-pilots for many years. This couple flew astronauts, had a non-profit to fly kids with terminal illnesses and give them a fulfilling life experience, and they even raised a mountain lion! These kind of stories don't get brought up if you don't take the time to sit with elders and ask what their life was like. It is important to listen, as it is one of the biggest forms of compassion and genuine care for anothers well-being. Last time at Casa, I talked to one of the members who skydived on her 90th birthday, and I was so inspired that I actually went skydiving myself to experience life to the fullest. I saw her at the most recent event, and had to tell her I went thorugh with skydiving. She was so happy to hear it!
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JAYSON HEFNERWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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