Blog10-Old Age
After reading this week’s assignments on Erikson’s final stages of life and how the disengagement theory comes into play, I began to look back on my life and tried to remember the memories I had of my grandparents before they died. It was noted in the text that late adulthood or old age begins sometime around retirement, after the kids have left home, usually around the age of 60. When this happens individuals began to detach themselves from society such as retiring from their jobs, realizing that their parenting duties are coming to a close, and that their input is no longer requested or required. Many times individuals in this stage began to feel uselessness as their bodies can no longer perform the way they once did and illnesses such as arthritis, diabetes, and heart problems begin to set in and become a major concern for them.
When thinking back I remember her sitting on the porch for hours on end as she would sit and reflect on her life with stories she would tell me and my sister about raising my dad. She often talked about friends she once had but had since died or her late husband who I never knew. It seemed she would always reflect on the past and ensure that we understood she was an important member of society at one time. I remember when she would get sick and she always thought it was the flu and that “this” was going to be the death of her. She had little to do with the outside world and kept herself surrounded by friends and family until she passed away. I have often wondered to myself even though I’m not in the later adulthood stage, who will I sit around and tell my stories to and what will I be able to say I have done that my friends and family will remember me for. It seems odd that when you read an obituary it says so and so died, then it’s goes on and on about who they were and what they did. You are more remembered for who you were than how you died and I guess I need to start now if I’m to have anything nice to reflect back upon in my later years.