Make an Elder in Your Life Smile

Shelly Showalter and her Grammy, Ethel Elmer (1915-2007)

When the elderly die, a library is lost, and volumes of wisdom and knowledge are gone…….

(author unknown)

Plan a visit to the older folks in your life and ask them questions. They were young once, like you, with aspirations and dreams. Did they become the person they thought they wanted to be when they answered their 5th grade teacher when she asked, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’

Mable Welsh (Great Grandma 1890-1991), Ethel Elmer (Grammy 1915-2007) Florence Krimes (Chicken Grandma 1912-2000)

What did they think of their spouse or other important person in their life when they met them for the first time? Of all the possessions they own, what is the most precious to them? What were the scariest, funniest, saddest things that happened to them in their adult life? Would they change something if they had to do all over again?

Record it, write it down, or memorise it to heart. It will be a treasure you can pass on to your friends and family. Something you’ll always have.

HISTORY, GENEALOGY, ARCHIVES, ANTIQUES

This is where it all comes from. It’s our job to collect, chronicle, or simply record the tale of who and why we are.

Wesley (Pop) Hershey (1930-2016) and grandson Weston Hershey, Gilmer County West Virginia
Grace (Swigert) Ziemer (1922-2022)

Protect and cherish it for the unique jem it is. It’s a part of your story and unique only to you. Like snowflakes, no two are the same. And will quickly fade if not handled with proper care.

Take a moment and learn your history. Make an elder in your life smile. It’s contagious.

Someone younger than yourself may see you and want to try it too. Pass on the tradition.

Ethel (Welsh) Elmer (1915-2007)

Don’t wait.

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