2021 Reflections: Past & Future
While we need to actively care for each other and accept support and help as we age, it is also important to feel that we still have something to contribute. We all want to be of service and of use for as long as possible. With this in mind, in 2021 NWCCA featured monthly essays by people whose lives have been devoted to fulfilling personal purpose as well as public service, in which they reflect on what they did, what they learned, and where they see themselves now and in the future.
What to Watch: We kicked off the year with Peter Herford’s evocative essay about streaming now and viewing experiences of the past.
Navigating Alzheimer’s: Nancy Slote‘s warmly moving and inspiring essay about the lessons learned during the ten years she accompanied her husband on his dementia journey.
The Backward Glance: Elsa Bowman eloquently shares her perspective from, as she puts it, “the territory of the old-old.”
About Money: Judy Pigott insightfully reflects on the role of money in her life and in our society.
On being a therapist: Despite growing up knowing no one who went to therapy, Norman Glassman has spent the past 50 years supporting others in this way.
On finding yourself “in charge”: Judith Ruckstuhl Wright‘s sensitive reflections on an all-too-common situation many of us never before experienced or even anticipated.
It was time: Allan Ament has been his wife Deloris’s caregiver since her stroke in 2005. In his honest and moving piece, he shares his recent process of deciding the time was coming for her to move into a care facility.
Good enough: Kristin Jackson’s memories of a meal eaten decades ago help her – and us – think more clearly about what she wants to do in her life now.
What do Grandmas do?: NWCCA board president Dori Gillam recounts how she learned new skills and developed resilience for supporting her daughter and grandson this summer.
Soul Travels: Writer and NWCCA Associate Director Ruth Neuwald Falcon’s journal of her five-day inner and outer journey from Seattle to Minneapolis.
Tyranny of Joy: We end the year with NWCCA Executive Director Rebecca Crichton’s reflections on how we can celebrate the holiday season in a more diverse and open-hearted way.