Going into the senior wellness center, I was expecting the place to be more similar to a retirement home and did not realize the type of people we would be meeting that day. The first few minutes of Paul, the executive director, speaking with us, I was in awe of the facts he told us about the correlation between seniors and homeless people. It was shocking to hear that about 30% of the homeless population in San Diego are elders and about 50% of the homeless population in Los Angeles. Although I felt sad after hearing a few people’s stories, it made me somewhat relieved that there are places like the wellness center where underprivileged seniors can seek help and assistance.
I first talked to this 75-year old man who is originally from Los Angeles and ended up moving to San Diego to be with his mother and two brothers who live down here. I asked him a single question: how did you end up in San Diego? From this single question, he told me that his mother and two brothers lived down here, however, he’s not really close with his brothers because of their drug addictions and his mother died a few years ago. He struggled with a drug and alcohol addiction himself and he eventually recovered, but he witnessed his younger brothers fall into worse habits. I feel like a lot of times when I talk to elder people, they enjoy talking about their past experiences even if they had low points in their lives. Without being asked, he also explained to us how cocaine supposedly saved his life after drinking too much. I was quite surprised by the tone he had in his voice as he was speaking with us about his whole life story. I didn’t know how to react because he was telling sad stories, yet he still had a smile on his face as he was laughing about the whole situation. Although the stories he shared with us were sad, he made them seem much more lighthearted with his overall tone.
I also got the opportunity to talk to a Filipino woman who had dementia. As a Filipino-American myself, I noticed her Filipino accent right away and felt some sort of connection with her. When I first started talking to her, I felt like I was talking to my own grandmother. In Asian culture, I notice many elderly people are much quieter and more reserved when it comes to talking about their past life. With my own mother and grandmother, I really have to grill them with questions to know more about their life in the Philippines. This woman that I met was quiet in a similar way to my grandmother when I tried to get to know more. A lot of her answers were very direct and she never really expanded, which was something different I noticed between her and the other man I conversed with before. I think my interaction with her definitely confirmed my previous belief when it comes to elderly people in my own culture. I feel like they don’t really enjoy talking about their past experiences because it’s something that they feel like they left behind in another lifetime.
If I am being quite honest, the conversations that I had during this visit to the wellness center made me sad about getting old. A lot of members in my family have similar struggles to the ones mentioned by the old man and talking with another Filipino woman made the idea of getting older so much more real. I never really think about myself getting older, but I worry about my loved ones aging since I’m the youngest of the family. Hearing about these two people not having many people in their lives anymore left a heartbreaking feeling in my stomach.
I first talked to this 75-year old man who is originally from Los Angeles and ended up moving to San Diego to be with his mother and two brothers who live down here. I asked him a single question: how did you end up in San Diego? From this single question, he told me that his mother and two brothers lived down here, however, he’s not really close with his brothers because of their drug addictions and his mother died a few years ago. He struggled with a drug and alcohol addiction himself and he eventually recovered, but he witnessed his younger brothers fall into worse habits. I feel like a lot of times when I talk to elder people, they enjoy talking about their past experiences even if they had low points in their lives. Without being asked, he also explained to us how cocaine supposedly saved his life after drinking too much. I was quite surprised by the tone he had in his voice as he was speaking with us about his whole life story. I didn’t know how to react because he was telling sad stories, yet he still had a smile on his face as he was laughing about the whole situation. Although the stories he shared with us were sad, he made them seem much more lighthearted with his overall tone.
I also got the opportunity to talk to a Filipino woman who had dementia. As a Filipino-American myself, I noticed her Filipino accent right away and felt some sort of connection with her. When I first started talking to her, I felt like I was talking to my own grandmother. In Asian culture, I notice many elderly people are much quieter and more reserved when it comes to talking about their past life. With my own mother and grandmother, I really have to grill them with questions to know more about their life in the Philippines. This woman that I met was quiet in a similar way to my grandmother when I tried to get to know more. A lot of her answers were very direct and she never really expanded, which was something different I noticed between her and the other man I conversed with before. I think my interaction with her definitely confirmed my previous belief when it comes to elderly people in my own culture. I feel like they don’t really enjoy talking about their past experiences because it’s something that they feel like they left behind in another lifetime.
If I am being quite honest, the conversations that I had during this visit to the wellness center made me sad about getting old. A lot of members in my family have similar struggles to the ones mentioned by the old man and talking with another Filipino woman made the idea of getting older so much more real. I never really think about myself getting older, but I worry about my loved ones aging since I’m the youngest of the family. Hearing about these two people not having many people in their lives anymore left a heartbreaking feeling in my stomach.