The Significance of Senior Citizens

Why the current generation should not overlook these amazing people

How it began…

The First StepMeet with someone about copyrights, privacy laws, donations, costs. (Week of January 16th)

Meet with seniors of Ogden and record their stories (10-15).(Beginning 1/18 and continuing until done – approx. 2 months

for interviews, revisions, and printing)

Type stories then review with author for errors, additions, etc.

Include favorite quotes and other tidbits.

Possibly include “senior facts” for public awareness.

Arrange entries, print, bind.

Each contributor will receive a copy of the bound works the remaining copies will be donated to local churches, senior homes, dentist/doctor offices, etc.

(Approx. 2 weeks for distribution)

PLAN

Gather Information…

1. Besse Cooper (Born August 26, 1896)On Jan. 31, 2011, Besse Cooper was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest living person on earth. Cooper (née Besse Berry Brown) was born on August 26, 1896, in Sullivan County, Tenn., and moved to Between, Ga., in 1917 at age 21. It was here that she married Luther Cooper and raised four children. With the death of 113-year-old Beatrice Farve on Jan. 19, 2009, Cooper became the oldest resident in Georgia, and two years later, she nabbed the world record. August 26 will mark her 116th birthday.

World's Oldest PeopleWhat’s the secret to a long life? Ask these 10 ‘supercentenarians’By Miriam Weiner March 9, 2012(only U.S. born are listed here)*

4. Leila Denmark (Born February 1, 1898)Until she retired in May 2001, Leila Alice Denmark (born Leila Daughtry) was the oldest-practicing pediatrician in the world, working at the Henrietta Eggleston Hospital on Atlanta's Emory University campus until she was 103 years old. Denmark's medical career is impressive: She was the third woman to graduate with a doctor of medicine degree from the Medical College of Georgia, and she codeveloped the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine.

Denmark has a lot of advice for aspiring supercentenarians. For example, she strongly objects to junk food and sweets (she has refused birthday cake several times because of the sugar content) and recommends drinking only water.

Denmark also says a sense of humor is key to a long life, and she should know: She celebrated her 114th birthday in February.

8. Mamie Rearden (Born Sept. 7, 1898)Mamie Rearden (née Mamie Julia Lewis) is the oldest living black person in the world. She was born in Edgefield County, S.C., in 1898, where she still lives today. After earning her teaching certificate in 1918, Rearden married her husband, Ocay, and they [had] 11 children. She resides with two of her kids—her son, David, and her daughter, Martha—and remains in good health, having celebrated her 113th birthday in September.

Her longevity secret? "Always treat others as you want to be treated. Tend to your own business and live a good, clean life and the Lord will bless you," Rearden told the Augusta Chronicle last year.

“Controversial South African leader and political activist Nelson Mandela is proof that life doesn't end in the senior years.

Mandela was released from prison at the age of 72. Rather than rest and enjoy his golden years, he returned to the political and activism arena, earning the Nobel Prize at the age of 75 and becoming president of South Africa at 76. At age 80, he was married for the third time.”

"Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life . . . ." -Samuel Ullman, age 70+

“Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.” -Pearl S. Buck

Talk to People…

Who are Senior

Citizens?

Senior citizens are old people who are important to the country. Age 50-80. Sometimes they are grumpy, but sometimes they are nice. They are good to have so we should treat them nicely, special, and respect them. Shelby, Amelia, and Emily ages 8 & 10Senior citizens are people like my Grandpa.

They don’t work anymore, but like to fix things around the house. People should be nice to them because they give you candy.Sebastian age 6

Senior citizens are old people that did their job and get to take long vacations.Caroline age 7

And the voice of strong senior citizens who most definitely

are NOT a burden to society…

I AMA ChristianA womanA motherA grandmotherA sisterA friendA cancer survivorA college studentAn artistA life survivorDivorcedSingle but not aloneA golferAn employeeA homeownerAliveA senior citizen

-Jan Pollard

For five years, my family and I lived in Montgomery, Alabama, and I became close friends with many people  there and throughout the area:  in Selma, Highland Home, Prattville, Magnolia, Wetumpka, and Alexander City.  Children there were taught to respect, listen to, and care for senior citizens, even those who had no position or influence in society.  That mindset simply seemed to be an integral part of Southern culture and life.  I've lived in only one other place in the world where seniors were treated with more respect, and that was in the villages near Seoul, in The Republic of Korea, a society that even practices ancestor worship.   Dr. Hogge, English professor at Weber State University

With the aging of the so-called Baby Boomers, society must confront a situation perhaps unlike any other in American history. Ever-increasing life expectancy means that as time passes further into the Twenty-first Century more people over the age of sixty-five, long the presumed age of retirement, will dominate the demographic landscape. Unlike people in traditional Asian cultures, Americans tend to think of elderly people as someone else's problem, an attitude that cultivates indifference. We either assume that their pensions and Social Security will cover them until they fade away in some retirement community in Florida or Arizona, or we warehouse them in nursing homes. This perspective may require considerable adjustment as the burdens of supporting so many senior citizens become heavier. The likelihood that this will result in more resentment than indifference toward older people grows with every passing year. The inability or unwillingness of the politicians for deal with the inevitable collapse of Social Security dictates that within a few years, literally millions of Americans will not have the means to take care of themselves. When those days come, younger citizens will have a massive problem on their hands. Perhaps the author of Soylent Green foresaw better than anyone a possible result, a time when society will decide to euthanize those who cannot take care of themselves.

Dr. Gene Sessions, History professor at Weber State University

I see Critical Theory applying to this situation. Society continues to strive for wealth and those who are the most captivated by being wealthy become resentful of those whom“don’t contribute” and “sponge off the government.” Since the money is coming from the government, those in power (government) are quick to draw attention to how many seniors are using government services – and how much the government could save by cutting or reducing the budget for these programs. One misconception concerning senior citizens is that they are no longer a contributing part of society – either monetarily or socially. Another misconception is, for those that are not able to contribute due to poor health, disease (Alzheimer’s, etc.) or other uncontrollable reason, that these members of society have “had their day in the sun,” they’ve lived their lives and no longer require or deserve to be treated as the current (and ruling) class in society – the younger generation.

There can be a solution to this disconcerting view:First, those in power (the government) need to stop using programs that benefit seniors as their main focus for decreasing the debt of the nation. Second, as the police manage minimal criminals, so it should be with seniors. Small steps (like the project I’m working on) to reintroduce seniors into society and validate them as a group that is still beneficial, may, over time, reduce the spread of the applied stigma.

References:

http://seniors.lovetoknow.com/Slideshow:Famous_Senior_Citizens~1http://health.usnews.com/health-news/living-well-usn/articles/2012/03/09/worlds-oldest-peoplehttp://www.alabamamoments.state.al.us/sec31det.htmlhttp://www.voice4india.org/2009/08/28/quotes-ageing-elders-senior-citizens/