Aging Reflection Essay

Completing this project has helped me to develop a better understanding of aging and has transformed my attitudes and feelings towards older adults. It has also helped to give me some greater insight as to how my Grandfather lived his life and as to what made him the person he is today. Throughout this project, I was able to see what measure he took to ensure his longevity and long term health and hopefully I can apply these lessons to my life as I age.
First off, I unearthed a great deal about who my Grandfather was and I learned significantly more about his past than I ever knew before, seeing the many struggles he had to fight through to accomplish all he did in his lifetime. He was able to quickly pick himself up after being devastated when he was forced to leave FDNY. He found the motivation and will to return to school at the age of 43 and obtain a Bachelor’s degree which is a feat that many young people of today struggle to do. He then was able to make a name for himself in a new career with the IRS, participating in many notable audits of big name companies. On a different note, my Grandfather was able to keep his mind sharp by remaining engaged in his later years, actively participating in
I now understand how younger generations can unknowably be ageist towards older generations by being over accommodating or even accidently being invasive. We don’t always realize it, but at times when we are trying to be helpful we can often degrade older adults because they might perceive us as not having confidence in them to accomplish a task. By the same token, we might infantilize the older generations by treating them as if they are infants or young children. We often do this by using childlike gestures, higher pitched voices and simpler speech structure and terminology. This often makes older adults feel devalued which can be detrimental to their