Stacy's Story: There is Beauty in Aging

Stacy* and I met with each other in her office on a Friday morning in February. She owns a small, quaint flower shop in a city about an hour south of Houston. Her shop, which has been in her family for almost a hundred years, had not yet opened for business that day. While Stacy prepared herself for our interview, I occupied myself by admiring the thick piles of paper on her work desk. She had invoices, emails, check stubs and letters of appreciation covering the surface entirely. Empty and half-full coffee mugs were placed strategically about the room in places ranging from the printer, to the floor, and I even spotted one six feet above the ground on top of the dark, wooden cabinetry that hovered above her desk.

I hadn’t seen Stacy since around January of last year, when I volunteered to help out in her shop, so we spent a little time catching up. She and I talked about the weather, I asked her about her week, and I gave her some background information on my project. I provided her with an overview of the kinds of questions I’d be asking and made sure that she’d be comfortable answering them. I formulated questions based on the subjects that I anticipated writing about, and asked her to expand on any experiences or subjects that she felt were unique or important to her development. She agreed to try her best when responding to them, and soon after we began the interview.

At about five foot four inches high, Stacy is an averaged-sized Caucasian woman. She has light brown hair with blonde highlights, bright hazel eyes, and a light olive skin tone. In August, she turned forty seven, and she told me she was looking forward to her birthday this summer. To her, age is really just a number, and she is just happy to have an excuse for ...

... middle of paper ...

...C. (2011). Stability and Change of Personality across the Life Course: The Impact of Age and Major Life Events on Mean-Level and Rank-Order Stability of the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 862-882. doi:10.1037/a0024950

Tartaro, J., Luecken, L. J., & Gunn, H. E. (2005). Exploring Heart and Soul: Effects of Religiosity/Spirituality and Gender on Blood Pressure and Cortisol Stress Responses. Journal of Health Psychology, 10(6), 753-766. doi:10.1177/1359105305057311

Turiano, N. A., et al. (2012). Personality Trait Level and Change as Predictors of Health Outcomes: Findings From a National Study of Americans (MIDUS). Journal of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Science, 67, 4-12.

Walker , K. (2005). "Always There for Me": Friendship Patterns and Expectations among Middle- and Working-Class Men and Women. Sociological Forum, 10(2), 273-296.