Further Thoughts on a Community’s Changes
This companion piece to Elderhood, In and Out of Community gives further reflections from community members.
This companion piece to Elderhood, In and Out of Community gives further reflections from community members.
Community can be balm for the discomforts of aging, just as elders’ wisdom and caring can soothe the growing pains of youth.
Howling, shouting, cries of despair, and The Pierced One greet a parent on her first visit to her daughter’s adopted community. Luckily, through lots of talking and listening, things improve.
For many baby boomers, taking on the mantle of eldership means transforming the sometimes rambunctious, in-your-face, empowerment-obsessed energy they worked so hard to sustain.
A disenchanted community founder leaves her group, and finds that her rural hometown farming community and international travel and service better match her vision of honorable elderhood.
After confronting an identity crisis worthy of adolescence, a 65-year-old finds a new home in community and discovers that elderhood is a blessing, not a curse.