This the second in a series of Blogs we are posting during this time when so many of us are impacted by stay-at-home, shelter-in-place and quarantine directives because of the coronavirus and COVID-19.
Our older adult loved ones have a lifetime of memories and experiences. At the senior living, assisted living and memory care communities Gardant manages, we have been asking residents to share some of those memories and experiences.
Last week’s Blog focused on their childhood. What did they do when school was out? What games did they play? What was their fondest memory of their childhood? Their responses illustrate how much life has changed. You can read the Blog by clicking here.
This week, our Blog focuses on their experiences as adults. We asked about favorite television shows and movies; what they did for fun; and their fondest memories
Here is a sampling of their responses:
Television Shows
Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Grey’s Anatomy, Blue Bloods and wrestling.
991; Chicago Hope; Chicago Fire; Station 19.
Doc Martin and NCIS.
Carol Burnett; all the NCIS shows; So You Think You Can Dance; America’s Got Talent.
Murder She Wrote; Expedition Unknown; Cosmos.
Lawrence Welk; Carol Burnett; Jeopardy; Price is Right; Hollywood Squares.
Wheel of Fortune; Jeopardy; Price is Right; all game shows.
Game shows and The Cooking Channel.
Cooking and sports.
Big Bang Theory; Friends; Criminal Minds.
The Weather Channel; heavy duty towing; Cubs games.
I Love Lucy; the Andy Griffith show.
Lucy; Three Stooges; Charlie’s Angels; All in the Family; Golden Girls; Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
Family Feud; Hallmark Mysteries.
Cops; Soap.
Dark Shadows; Swamp People; Wicked Tuna; Deadliest Catch.
Walker, Texas Ranger; Big Valley; The Jeffersons; Good Times; Family Feud.
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis; the Bozo show.
Criminal Minds; Bones; Frasier.
Game of Thrones; Housewives (all); Empire.
I never really cared to watch TV; if it is on, I usually just have it on for background noise.
Movies
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962); How the West Was Won (1962); Sound of Music (1965).
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980); Old Yeller (1957); Dirty Dancing (1987); Spencer Mountain (1963)
Ten Commandments (1956); Green Mile (1999); Temptations (2018; Billie Holiday movie with Diana Ross (Lady Sings the Blues – 1972).
Casablanca (1942); A Star is Born (1976); The Pianist (2002).
Bodyguard (1992) with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston; Color Purple (1985); Blue Hawaii (1961) with Elvis Presley; Jail House Rock (1957); Police Academy I and II (1984 and 1985); Evita with Madonna (1996).
The Notebook (2004); Star Wars movies (1977, 1980, 1983, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2015, 2017); Transformers; Gone with the Wind (1939); West Side Story (1961); John Wayne movies.
Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Ghost (1990); Dirty Dancing (1987).
Gone with the Wind (1939) and Dirty Dancing; Oh that Patrick Swayze.
Shenandoah (1965); Shawshank Redemption (1994).
Wizard of Oz (1939); Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).
The Family that Preys (2008) – Tyler Perry movies.
The Shining (1980).
The Quiet Man (1952); Bringing Up Baby (1938).
Sound of Music (1965); Fiddler on the Roof (1971); most Elvis movies.
Al Jolson Story (1946).
Home Alone (1990); police movies.
Shirley Temple; I loved her and still do.
Romance; action; Gone with the Wind (1939)
Roy (2015); A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945).
Victor Victoria (1982); Harry Potter (2001).
Sleepless in Seattle (1993); You’ve Got Mail (1998); John Wayne movies; Cleopatra (1963).
Titanic (1997); Michael (1996); King and I (1956); Fried Green Tomatoes (1991).
What they did for fun
I went to dances and movies.
Visited grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Camping; Revolutionary War re-enactments; gardening; canning; reading and sewing.
Went boating on Vermilion Lake; camping.
Bowling; sewing; playing with the kids.
Bowling; miniature golf; oil painting by the numbers; puzzles.
Played sports and music. Went boating and to the beach.
Visiting friends and family; dancing; working in the garden; crafts; sewing; baking and decorating cakes.
Went to the bar and shot pool.
Going to the Dells and different casinos plus many trips to Disney World. Loved to sew; made many things for my two daughters.
Played golf with my friend; picnics with the family.
Read; played cards.
Read; went for walks.
Went to Cubs games and Riverview.
Going to the Community Center during the depression; played softball.
Parties by our pool; get-togethers with neighbors.
Sewed; crochet; played games; bingo; talked to the family on the phone; crafts.
Fishing and shopping.
Played semi-pro baseball; bowled; skated doubles with my spouse.
Fondest Memories
Having my children and watching them grow up.
My five children, 13 grandchildren, and 26 great grandchildren are my joys, and Bible College.
My son growing up.
I saw a lady across the room at a party. As I walked toward her, it was as if I was walking on air. I couldn’t feel the floor. We married a year later.
When I met my husband on July 4, 1948. I went to the fireworks at the park. Alberta was with me. He asked us to sit on his blanket with him. Of course, we said yes. He asked me out for a date, and I said yes. He was the love of my life. I didn’t go steady until I met him. I fell for him like a ton of bricks.
Marrying my wife. We met at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. She was an Army nurse returning from Japan and the Philippines. I was an Army dentist.
When I still had my husband. He was the love of my life and will be forever.
My Dad baking. He was a baker for Augusta Bakery.
Living in Washington, D.C., and Seattle, working for the FBI.
Living in England for two and a half years when my husband was in the military.
The birth of my children.
Daughter’s wedding.
When my daughter entered the world. When the Cubs won the championship in 2016.
Mother’s Day with three generations of family.
We were married young and raised three children. After they were grown, we traveled a lot.
Family; camping trips with the children, husband and dog.
My first visit to the opera.
My first trip to Africa and places outside the United States – Australia, New Zealand, France, Amsterdam.
A cruise from Venice, Italy back to the United States with about eight stops. Also a cruise on the Baltic Sea with a two-day stop in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Going to Hawaii with my husband and my sister and her husband.
Going to the Bahamas with our friends.
Cruise of Alaska; going on a helicopter ride up on a glacier.
Meeting my biological father, and my first bus trip to East St. Louis.
Teaching Sunday school; singing in church groups; being in plays.
Making my sister’s wedding dress.
Owning a craft shop; teaching painting classes; becoming a grandma.
Raising four kids; houseboating; painting with oils and watercolors; seeing my son receive his medical degree.
Being on the Today show.