Over the Hill, or Under Appreciated?

Over the Hill or Under Appreciated?

Senior citizens, retirees, the elderly, the golden years, grandparent, etc. Do these terms bring to your mind a particular stereotype? Do you picture walkers and wheelchairs, grey hair and wrinkles, a burden on family and society, expendable or unnecessary? For a moment, I want you to instead picture these adjectives for the group of people I have mentioned; active, experienced, wise, knowledgeable, reliable, needed, wanted and appreciated. I am a single woman over 60, and sometimes I feel I am being put in a box with those negative descriptions. I am not just a senior citizen; I am an active and vital part of my family and my community. For many senior citizens, these years can mark the beginning of a new chapter in their lives that will enrich not only themselves, but the very world that would label them as unnecessary.

In commercials, on television, and other media, the elderly are generally represented with these negative stereotypes, “grumpy and cantankerous behavior, the presence of illness, and the need for care” as Laura Keyes and Lisa Dickes point out in their article “Aging in America”. These negative images can impact the way younger generations see the generations that came before them. In this article they mention something of particular interest to me, which are examples of some positive ways older women are portrayed on television. I happen to be a big fan of two of the shows they reference, Golden Girls and Murder She Wrote. In Golden Girls, the storyline follows three very independent women in their 60’s (plus an elderly mom in her 80’s) who follow their hearts and dreams, their love lives, and their volunteerism. In Murder She Wrote, the story is all about a school teacher who takes up mystery writing when her husband passes and she becomes a famous author, sleuth, and world traveler. This may seem outrageous to a young person who does not see that potential in senior citizens, but I have personally done some things out of the stereotype of a senior, and have witnessed many of my contemporaries do the same. For example, between the ages of 50 and 60, I found myself parasailing and kayaking in Hawaii, snorkeling and jet skiing in the Bahamas, ziplining across Antigua, biking in Alaska, and hiking rainforests in Panama. I have climbed twice to the top of the walled city of Dubrovnik at age 50 and 59, and flown all around the world. Sometimes my grown children see my Facebook posts, and say “Yeah, that’s my mom”. We are not television characters; we are real people having encore performances at an age where many think we should retire and stay home to sew and plant gardens.

To get a better understanding of how seniors are seen through various lenses, I conducted a survey in three age groups. The surveys were broken into these groups, ages 15-25, ages 25-50, and over 60 years old. Questions were answered by both males and females in each age group.

Question #14 on the survey for the two youngest groups asked “what types of activities do you associate older people doing?”. Both groups answered with items like watching TV, knitting, reading, gardening, playing cards. In the same question I asked what types of activities do they actually see seniors doing? The youngest group did not have much experience interacting with seniors other than their own grandparents. They mostly responded that their experience with the elderly was simply having family dinners and being cared by their grandparents. I believe the reason behind this absence of generational mixing is because we live in a time of fragmented families. Children live apart from their grandparents, do not connect with their grandparents, or do not have the opportunity to experience older generations. This could be due to divorce, separation, and distance. It makes sense that their perceptions would result from what they see on television, in movies, and comics. The second age group surveyed had more experience interacting with older generations and mentioned that they see seniors jogging, taking up new hobbies, and volunteering.

Question #14 on the survey for those over 60 asked specifically what types of activities they actually enjoy and participate in. The answers included things such as being active on community boards, participating in local government, exercise, boating, travel, biking, motorcycling, running events, and all of them said volunteering. The stereotypes the youngest groups associated with people over 60 were far different than the actual activities that are enjoyed by many senior citizens and retirees.

Naturally, some of the survey participants are not as healthy or active as they would like to be, but they all expressed the desire to be able to do those things they could not do, due to physical limitations. Those that were not very active physically, still said they try to volunteer when they can, even if it is doing online work from home to solicit for fundraising efforts.

Question #16 on my survey of those over 60 asked “What is something you are proud of accomplishing after turning 60?” answers included becoming a published author, building a home, refurbishing a home, going back to school, taking up hiking and becoming a nationally ranked track and field athlete at age 65. Question #20 on this same survey asked “How do you see yourself, use any adjective”. This answer was my favorite for the purpose of my essay, “Still ready for new adventures” (Thomas).

There is something I found of particular interest in reading the responses to the surveys in all three age groups that was nearly unanimous; when asked what they would like to have asked their own parents, the reply was overwhelmingly for family anecdotes and ancestral information, as well as what their own childhoods were like. There is so much knowledge and experience that comes with age, and unfortunately for many, the time to ask has passed before realizing the wealth of information they may have had. Relaying history does not have to mean reading from a history book, it can be as simple as stories told around the family dinner table. Some cultures, such as many native American tribes, do not rely on written history at all. Their entire ancestry and heritage is passed down throughout generations by the art of storytelling. We, as Americans, have gotten away from this art. Perhaps it is due to the fact that we have come to rely on the internet as a way of finding our family histories. Using stories as a way to communicate family history is a tool elderly people can also use in a volunteer capacity when working with community groups.

Before getting into ways older people can contribute to a community, I believe it is important that first we understand how people “of a certain age” see themselves as it relates to being vital and significant in their own lives. In addition to the survey answers that showcases a lot of seniors participating in non-stereotypical senior activities, I refer to a couple of books I have read on the subject. Two of the books I used in my research are autobiographies, both written by females who find themselves single at the age of 60 and embark on a journey of self-discovery and finding new passions and yes, even romance. In “Single and Sixty” the author (Jurkovich) addresses the end of a 35-year marriage at a time in her life she thought she would be looking at retirement. Instead, this short book outlines the first year after her newfound independence in which she truly begins to live her best life. She became a best-selling author, and self-help guru to show other women the way to stay relevant and vital in a society geared toward youthfulness. I especially enjoyed chapters 14-16 when she addresses becoming a dating woman in her 60’s. She addresses the stigma many women our age feel about our aging bodies, only to find that it isn’t as important as we were led to believe. Like the comedian Jeff Foxworthy once quipped, “show me something naked and give me a beer”. Yeah, turns out we were obsessing over nothing.

In Meredith Maran’s book, “The New Old Me”, she also finds herself suddenly single at the age of 60. Her autobiography is a full-length book that takes us with her during the first three years of her quest to find new passions and meaning in her life. She searched for ways to be devoted not just to her own self-growth, but also as an involved person in her community. Not to focus only on females at this stage of life, I read: “Sixty, Sexy, and Successful” by Robert Schwalbe, PhD. He has several chapters about various therapy clients he has helped, dedicating the book to baby boomer men. His stories on men in their 60’s mirror those mentioned previously, feeling outdated at 60, only to discover new hobbies and community service projects that bring a new vitalization to themselves as well as those they serve. Back to the survey mentioned earlier, one of the responders in the oldest age group was my brother, John Marrs. He retired from the U.S. Army and the San Luis Obispo’s Sheriff’s Department, and now has a career as an actor in westerns. He is actually living every little boy’s dream of being a soldier, a cop, and a cowboy! He is turning 60 this year and says he is embarking on the best part of his life so far!

Overwhelmingly, responses to my survey of those in or near retirement, about what they see themselves being involved in for the near future, had to do with volunteering. This leads to my research on how seniors can be a valuable resource when in it comes to their knowledge and experience to benefit programs involving education, civic opportunities, and mentorship. Why is this an important aspect of our present day lives? “By the middle of the 21st century, seniors will outnumber children and youth for the first time” (Freedman). This may be one of the most significant changes and influence for many decades in our society. Not only are we a society of an aging population, but the U.S. also possesses “the largest, best-educated, and most vigorous collection of adults in its history”, according to Marc Freedman. Mr. Freedman is the founder of such programs as ENCORE, which examines and puts into practice the idea that older citizens have the experience and vigor to embark on an “encore” performance in their later years. According to Mr. Freedman, a study done by the U.S. Administration on Aging found that between 30%-40% of the senior population in America are willing to come forward in a volunteer capacity.

There have been several experiments done joining children with older adults to form the bridge they are missing that have shown an increase in the child’s developmental and educational stages. In an article jointly written by Mr. Freedman and Sandra Waddock, “Reducing the Generation Gap and Strengthening Schools”, they postulate that, “intergenerational contact can play an important role in strengthening schools and reducing the generation gap”. The bottom line of such contact by volunteers is that the elder adults “contributed to mastery of basic literacy and numerical concepts” as well other developmental skills and improved self-confidence. There was even improved behavior and social skills when youth interacted with senior citizens. The students involved in the project did better in school, and the director of Generations United, Donna Butts, said they were learning in a way you cannot learn from a book. She said, “it’s the extra attention and the extra time that the other person takes with the student to believe in them”. I believe that contact by another person and their interest in you can be a valuable tool that enhances both our physical as well as mental well-being.

One of the experiments that led to this observation by Ms. Butts was conducted in 2015 in Florida by a high school social studies teacher. For National History Day, the teacher chose to have her students join with citizens at an adult care facility to write journals for them recounting their years during WWII. The experiment meant to help the students in journalism, but the result was that the students learned so much from the older citizens experiences, that the whole project took on new meaning.” ((Waddock). Many people are auditory learners, meaning they will absorb more information by hearing rather than by reading. When a senior citizen is able to give an oral account of either their own lives or historical events, the storytelling itself gives a more meaningful learning experience than reading a history book. It also makes the stories more personal, and that will always most likely leave a larger imprint on the audience.

In addition to being a wealth of experience and assistance as volunteers in communities, seniors have evolved into a large resource for political means. Seniors represent a large portion of active voters in any election from city to country government, so they are an important source for lobbyists and political pollsters. According to the United Census Bureau, seniors consistently are the largest demographic of voters. The census presents charts of age-related voter turnout from 1980 to 2020 that show the largest voter turnout in all elections are those over the age of 60.

It is no wonder politicians want to cater to this age group, as they will determine much of the support for a candidate or policy. In an article by Sarah Anzia from the University of Berkeley, she concludes from her own research that “politicians adopt policy positions in response to those who vote in their elections”. Age, in addition to race and education are strong indicators of voter participation. She also theorizes that cities with higher populations of older citizens will often benefit from local government funding of public transportation, disabled accommodations, and senior activities (Anzia). This is a local example of how senior’s political participation can have an influence on political policies all the way up to national policies. Her findings in her article “When Does a Group of Citizens Influence Policy?” is in agreement with the census report. Her charts show that of the population of registered voters age 65-90 have over a 70% turnout at local elections.

Before the pandemic, I was myself active in community activities. My participation in politics have been on a small basis, such as acting as Neighborhood Watch Captain. I have spent my senior years volunteering for animal rescues, scouting groups, fundraising events, and being a classroom helper. I used to help serve food to the homeless at the courthouse once a week until my children grounded me from being around others during the pandemic. I now collect and distribute necessities for these people so my family members who continue to serve food can hand them out. I am currently unemployed due to the coronavirus after 22 years of being a full time Corporate Flight Attendant, but I do not sit at home doing nothing. I am presently working towards my Liberal Arts degree so I can be a substitute teacher as a retirement job. I have been volunteering my time sewing and donating nearly one thousand fabric masks to medical workers, store clerks, senior living facilities, school teachers, and tribal reservations. I also provide an invaluable service to my daughter, who is a school teacher. She teaches remotely from home so I watch her children during the day while she conducts her online classes.

It is important to understand how seniors see themselves before getting to why and how they can be (and are) sources of experience and relevance in various capacities; specifically, in the areas of volunteerism, community service, and even important participants in political matters. It is important to understand that they see themselves as having something to offer before we can expect that the younger generations can appreciate it as well.

When you really stop to think about the older people you know, take some time to think of how they contribute to our society as a whole, if not just in your own life. You may begin to see senior citizens in a new light when you can appreciate the value in the services they provide, the policies they affect, and the experiences they bring to a situation

When I was a young college student, I looked at senior citizens as someone’s old grandparent, as a lesser person, as a burden even. Now I am in my 60’s and I feel like I still have so much to offer and so much to do. I will go down kicking and fighting before I will let society put me in a box that labels me as old, outdated or unnecessary.

Works Cited

Anzia, Sarah F. “When Does a Group of Citizens Influence Policy? Evidence from Senior Citizen Participation in City Politics.” Journal of Politics, vol. 81, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 1– 14. EBSCOhost accessed Nov. 7, 2020

Dean, Kailey, John Magill, Adam Wooddy, Alexis Wooddy, Tori Dermer, Dani Nunes, Meaghan Manghera, Morgan Kingman. “Survey #1: Age 15-29”. Received by Patti Magill. 9 November, 2020.

Freedman, Marc. “Senior Citizens: A New Force in Community Service.” USA Today Magazine, vol. 125, no. 2620, Jan. 1997, p. 54. EBSCOhost accessed Nov 2, 2020

Freedman, Marc. “The Encore Life: A Generation of Experienced Workers Is Ready to Serve”. Generations, vol. 40, no. 4, Winter 2016/2017, pp. 74-78. EBSCOhost accessed 14 November, 2020.

Hughes, Cheryl, Laurie Thomas, Ed Thayres, Janie Jurkovich, Ricky Talley, Martha Philipp, Mary Bowie, Kris Rothgery, Julie Beals, John Marrs, Patricia Manghera. “Survey #3: Over 50”. Received by Patti Magill. 6 November, 2020

Jurkovich, Janie. “Single and Sixty”. Golden Spiral Press. Fresno, CA. 2019

Keyes, Laura, and Lisa Dicke. “Aging in America: A Parallel between Popular Images of Aging and Public Policy Narratives.” Administrative Theory & Praxis, vol. 38, no. 2, June 2016, pp. 115–136. EBSCOhost accessed Nov 2, 2020

Lopez, Jamie, April Prentice, Elena Goodlad, Amanda Magill, Matt Mollusky, Ashley Rodda, Christine Tickner, Erin Callahan, Ariel Newton. “Survey #2: Age 30- 50”. Received by Patti Magill. 8 November, 2020

Maran, Meredith. “The New Old Me, My Late-Life Revelation”. Blue Ridge Press, New York,

2017.

Schwalbe, Robert. “Sixty, Sexy, and Successful; A Guide for Aging Male Baby Boomers”. Praeger Publishers. 2008. pp 128-29.

“Voting Rates by Age.” The United States Census Bureau. 18 July 2020.

www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2017/comm/voting-rates-age.html. Accessed 5 Dec. 2020.

Waddock, Sandra and Marc Freedman. “Reducing the Generation Gap and Strengthening Schools”. Generations. Vol. 22, no. 4, Winter 1998/99, p. 54. EBSCHhost accessed 15 November, 2020.