designed to include elders much anymore for a couple generations at least. People who are around families obviously have stronger social support systems as is shown in more traditional cultures where older relatives are still useful for childrearing, cooking, gardening, etc. although this can be idealized & nothing is perfect. Obviously social isolation & lack of activity accelerate physical & mental decline, a death sentence. It's been fifty plus years of separation of families by job relocation, career changes & WWII suburban housing, automobile culture & shopping malls supporting the nuclear family of workers & school age kids & not much else. Community centers & senior centers that once provided social contact & activities are declining from lack of overall support & municipal revenues. Starbucks or McDonald's are the de facto meeting places anymore, or other places that cost $.
When young I worked for a Smithsonian senior outreach program where we presented programs about US history, culture & technology at senior centers, nursing homes & retirement places. Items were displayed & discussed like the phonograph & old fashioned ice cream making. There were great reminiscences. I recall a Russian lady's delight when we showed a tall sugar cone, made from a mold & wrapped in paper, with metal tongs used for breaking off pieces for cooking. She remembered seeing these in her youth. After few outings it was clear that the most interested & active participants were folks still living in their community who went to senior centers. People who lived in senior residential housing even very attractive places were far less engaged with each other & us.
This was in the 1980s when funding & attention to senior citizens were supported more through the National Council on Aging & many other govt. & private groups. Since then this country is all about $ & those who aren't consumers are invisible. It's a sad state & certainly not the case for all elders. Many remain active & alive for sure. But far too many are impacted by the loss of earlier supports, esp. financial resources & family & community connections.
I'm grateful that I grew up in the post war era in a nice city of 100,000 residents with neighborhoods & a downtown, not suburbia, like my parent who also were raised in smaller communities & associated with their grandparents & relatives. We had excellent public schools, a good college, a Carnegie Library & a fine Art Gallery & Museum built by architect Walter Gropius. We walked often, in the town area filled with good stores, businesses, theaters that showed film & ballet & around the lovely college campus. The charming city park had walking paths, a rose garden & a music amphitheater. It was endowed by one of the local families.
Years later my father moved to a suburb of a large city in the 1970s. There were pluses like his garden, malls, nice FL weather, but it was large, impersonal & an automobile dependent lifestyle unlike the smaller town he grew up in with pedestrians, family owned stores, a spirit of community & almost everyone knew each other. I find myself living in a similar way of late & it's contrary to what I know is best.
Thanks for your post, we had many great times. No complaints here, life has been good Heaven knows.
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