It gives me great joy to be here today, thank you all for coming to my 90th Birthday Celebration. It means so much to me. Who would think that I would have made my 90th. Some days I don’t feel 90 at all and then other days my body quickly reminds me “Gemma, your not as young as you used to be”. You know you are old when everything hurts and what doesn't hurt doesn't work or when your back goes out more than you do. I have been asked to share some milestones in my life with you; the only trouble is, if I can remember them. My first milestone was 90 yrs ago at 6:59pm one Saturday night I was born a big bouncing bundle of joy Gemma Louise Kitchin. My fondest memories of my childhood were family holidays at the beach, especially QLD, spending time with my Uncle Shane on the scariest rides and Saturday mornings spent at Little Athletics where I …show more content…
Mum must of know I was born to be an athlete because at the age of 9 months I was running around the furniture. “You are going to be an athlete one day”, she said; may be even in the Olympics”. Up until the age of 11, I lived in Dharruk NSW where I attended “Mamre Anglican School”. My athletics career took off with me achieving State level in Swimming and past State Level in running. I was very excited to run on the Homebush track where many Olympians had run, this was some of my proudest moments. Primary school was ok but High school, I loved it. In 2015, my family moved to Cranbourne Victoria. In year 7, I was selected to be in the Leaders In Sport Programme at Elisabeth Murdoch College; this is where my career in Sport really took off. I graduated achieving 97 % and I was accepted into the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra; through hard work and determination, I was running the
Aging and old age for a long time presented as dominated by negative traits and states such as sickness, depression and isolation. The aging process is not simply senescence most people over the age of 65 are not Senile, bedridden, isolated, or suicidal (Aldwin & Levenson, 1994). This change in perspective led the investigation of the other side of the coin. Ageing is seen as health, maturity and personal Royal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generatively, coping and acceptance of age-related constraints (Birren & Fisher, 1995). Psychological und...
I can tell you this, as I am quickly approaching my 70th year, like everything else in life, getting older is exactly what we tell ourselves it is, no more and no less. If we buy into the cultural stereotype of aging, then it probably means all of the above and we will march right to the rocking chair of life, and promptly fall asleep.
It is difficult at best to think positively when older people are viewed as “incompetent, boring, inactive, dependent, unproductive, weak, unhealthy, passive, ugly, dull, and sad” (Gething, 1999, p. 2). Essentially, a stereotype as such asphyxiates the wind from your sail early in one’s journey into old age. Then again, if the finish line is one of oppression, marginalization, and disempowerment, it’s a race best lost (Ranzijn, 2002). The most poignant negative affiliated with aging unquestionably centers on the end of life concerns. Although, our hope is for a peaceful demise there exists a chance of tremendous pain and suffering. The latter remains my biggest fear, which in and of itself sheds a negative light on aging. Subsequently, I turned to the article, Positive Psychology and Productive Aging in hopes it would provide
Aging is a sensitive topic for many, with ageism being incredibly prevalent, as it has such a negative connotation that is attached to it (Hooyman, Kawamoto, & Kiyak, 2015). What does it mean to age in society today, when the baby-boomer population is starting to reach their old-old age status? (Hooyman et al., 2015). In order to break down stereotypes and understand what exactly it means to age within our current day society, I interviewed a married couple of 29 years, whom wished to remain anonymous, regarding their views on aging. The gentleman is sixty-three years old, and his wife is in her fifties. She was not the main focus on my interview, the gentleman was, but his wife was able to chime in and provided me with her two-sense every once in a while.
Growing old is a process of life which most people hope to experience. Some people view growing old as a good thing, while others disagree. The process of growing old can bring on new changes both mentally and physically for an individual; many different aspects of an individual’s life begin to decline. Through exploring material of the development of humans in late adulthood, I have created an image of what I believe I will be like at the age of 70.
This reflection paper is based on the life history interview conducted on me and a 78-year-old woman who is soon going to celebrate her 79th birthday on Sep 21st. I would call her with a fictitious name “Smita” in the entire paper to maintain and protect her privacy. The interview was about our life. It was divided into six major life categories: childhood, adulthood, identity, the present, aging, and life lessons. Having an opportunity to interview a 78-year-old woman and writing this reflective paper about the life history and experiences had made me realize that I have a lot to learn about the stages of human life. Every individual lives are different and it varies tremendously. As an interviewee my goal was to collect the details of life, different stories, and experiences that makes our life unique from the rest of the people.
Late adulthood should be a time in a person's life where they feel fulfilled. They can look back on their memories and be happy with the way they have lived their life. Now, too many elderly people are not satisfied and look at this stage as depressing. Most fear death of either a loved one or for themselves. This topic is interesting to me because elderly people should make the best of their last stage of life. This topic discusses about getting older, the life changes that they go through physically, emotionally, and mentally. We should know more about it so that we can help our family and friends get through one of the best, yet toughest part of our mortal life.
As a competitive swimmer, I train 19 hours a week as a member of the University of Manitoba Bison’s Men’s Swim Team. However, growing up, I was never a great swimmer. I just didn’t have the classic swimmer body type—tall, long limbs with big hands and feet—but I loved the sport. Looking back, I can imagine how my parents felt. Their short, scrawny kid desperately wanted to be in a sport that he wasn’t meant for.
Beginning in middle school, my average day consisted of ten hours of academics and five hours of training. I overloaded my body to reach both academic and athletic goals, earning the titles of academic all-American and a United States Swimming national champion.
When I first came to Woodlynde, I almost had a heart attack during assemble anticipating my birthday being announced. But now here I am in front of all these people telling my story. Before I came to Woodlynde, I was a below average student and I only found enjoyment in playing sports. My grades were suffering in my previous schools which made it difficult for me to continue to follow my passion for sports. However, once I came to Woodlynde, that all changed.
“The Golden Years? You've got to be kidding...(Nelson)” Ageism is the main influence for how older people view the aging process. Despite stereotypes, today, for the first time in history, most people can expect to live into their sixties and beyond. A longer life represents an important opportunity, not only for older people and their families, but also for societies as a whole. Additional years provide the chance to pursue new activities such as further education or a long-neglected passion, while continuing to make valuable contributions to family and community.
The start of the 2002 track season found me concerned with how I would perform. After a disastrous bout with mononucleosis ended my freshmen track season, the fear of failure weighed heavily on my mind. I set a goal for myself in order to maintain focus and to push myself like nothing else would. My goal for my sophomore track season was to become a state champion in the 100 meter hurdles. I worked hard everyday at practice and went the extra mile, like running every Sunday, to be just that much closer to reaching my goal. The thought of standing highest on the podium in the center of the field, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, overcame my thoughts of complaining every time we had a hard workout. When I closed my eyes, I pictured myself waiting in anticipation as other competitors names were called out, one by one, until finally, the booming voice announced over the loudspeaker, "...and in first place, your 2002 100 meter hurdle champion, from Hotchkiss, Connie Dawson." It was visions like these that drove me to work harder everyday.
Aging and being old was dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time (Eibach, Mock, & Courtney, 2010). At first glance the terms “success” and “aging” seem to be in conflict to each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, & Cohen, 2002). It seems that successful aging means is not aging.
This posting is about the elderly and their reminiscence of their own life. Throughout the post, I will discuss some of the difficulties I have experienced in providing care for the elderly. Furthermore, I will describe my own thoughts and feelings about the required video and what changes I will include in my nursing practice after watching the video.
Aging and being old has been dominated by negative characteristics and conditions such as illness, depression, and isolation for a long time. At first glance the terms “success” and “aging” seem to be in conflict with each other. When asking people about aging, their answers have many facets that are also found in psychological definitions: successful aging is seen as health, maturity and personal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generativity, coping, and acceptance of age-related limitations. In the psychological sense successful aging is also often seen as the absence of age-associated characteristics seems that successful aging means is not aging.