Hello everyone, I’m Davontae Rucker a 34 year old BSW student here at GSU. I was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee and moved to Atlanta in 2011. I’m married with 4 children and have been very fortunate to traveling the world as a Christian Missionary helping so many people in need. During my last mission trip it was a elderly woman who was living with her mentally ill grandson in a Squatter camp in Soweto, South Africa. I’m not going to give the specifics, but she needed to be removed immediately. During that time learning her challenges made a deep impact on my life. In some regards our elderly people are most of the time an afterthought. They need assistance just as much as everyone else. What I hope to gain from this class is detailed information and knowledge about how to care for those aging. The more I learn from this class the more I can assist those who I meet on the mission field.
2) The Meaning of Aging
For me the concept of “older adulthood or “later life,” means you reached a point where you should enjoy or reap all the hard work you have put in during the first half of your life. Now this doesn’t happen much, but as you reach the golden years there should be a level of satisfaction with your career, family, and etc… Of Course this my personal opinion and not factual I guess. Today I have no living grandparents and sometimes older adulthood can be scarier because you think as you get older death is much closer.To me whenever I reach older adulthood I want to be just as passionate then as I am now. And in my field as a minister and missionary almost everyone is in their older adulthood moving well and enjoying their life in ministry. I believe when you reach the age 50 you are in that older adult range. How I would envision myself in older adulthood, well I already have a big family and been married for 9 years now at age of 34. So in the next 20 years I should have a huge family with a lot more children and possibly grandchildren. I am in my mid-30s and I been more focus on my health, so I believe I should be healthy as I increase in age. I know for sure I will still be in ministry, that won’t change. I know I will still be traveling the world helping everyone I can if I’m still physically able. This brings me pleasure now, so I know it will remain as I get older.
One of the things that is very scary to me is losing your memory. So far as I recently stated I been blessed to witness so many amazing things in my life so far. I meet many people throughout the world. My family is still growing and I’m still active in my purpose right now. I can’t imagine forgetting everything I done in my life and all the people I know. That is challenging to think and live out me. I know during this semester we will touch on these things. I was just watching about a famous actor I liked name Bruce Willis who was just moved into a care facility because his situation with Dementia has worsened. There are other things I’m concerned about but Dementia is at the top of my list.
Hi Davontae,
Your post was really powerful to read. The story you shared about the elderly woman in South Africa stood out to me because it shows how often older adults can be overlooked, even though they need just as much support as anyone else. I also liked how you described older adulthood as a time to enjoy the rewards of everything you’ve worked for. That’s such a positive way to frame it. I can understand your concern about memory loss too. The example you gave about Bruce Willis makes it feel even more real, and I think a lot of people share that same fear.
Davontae,
Thank you for sharing your experiences. We all appreciate it. your experience with older adults is unique, just based on the example you talked about here. There are cultural issues that vary country to country, and we will talk about some of that in class. Cruikshank begins with that discussion in her first chapter, actually. She is not traditional in her approach to aging, but she raises some important questions about aging and women.
You have a large family and plans for more, so I guess I can understand why 50 seems like it’s older adult to you, Your experiences are perhaps more extensive than some of us. But for most of us, our 50s is when our careers were really taking off and we hoped to have a good 10 years or so left to work. It will be interesting for you to see how that unfolds for you in your work.
You are not alone in your fear of dementia, as most of your classmates have raised the same issue. We will be talking about that in our first podcast with Jim Fox. While it is difficult in some ways, I think you will learn a lot.
I look forward to many conversations.
Dr P