At Westcenter today! We talked to a great group of elders who were very happy to answer the question cards we had such as asking advice, their favorite experiences, and jobs. The first elder we met was a woman named Joy Sun. Although she spoke mostly Chinese, with the help of Sallie and the wonderful google translate, our group was able to have a great conversation. We learned she picked her own name because she always feels joy and enjoys sunny, bright days as it makes her happier and energetic-thus Joy Sun. She recalled how she stayed in Seattle a bit but really disliked the gloomy weather (but Joy Rain sounds pretty cool too). Her relationship advice for us was give lots and lots of love and her lesson for us was keep on working hard and sticking to our goals, no matter how big or small. Joy is also really active as she walks more than 10K steps a day in order to stay moving and she also volunteers at the West Center everyday by wiping the floors, folding napkins, and passing out food. She really loves giving away gifts to her friends that she made at the center as she believes material things re only of value if given away to make other people happy! My group also talked to another very lovely and amazing woman named Talat. She only recently joined the Westcenter group but she told us that she loves it already as the people and volunteers here are wonderful. We talked about her life in Pakistan and moving to America plus her love for traveling. I really connected with her as she reminded me very much of my grandma in terms of her personality and similar interests in culture. She gave us her number so we can keep in touch (her granddaughter goes to UCSD as well)! Before we departed, she gave us a big hug and told us to keep in touch as she really loved that the LCS group was going to different centers and neighborhoods for intergenerational talks and how there needs to be more groups like that. Couple days after, I texted Talat wishing her a very Happy Ramadan!!
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June 2019
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