Classic Birthdays of 20th Century Popular Culture Creators April May June

A Memory Care Book for Activity Directors and Caregivers

De: Daphne Simpkins

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

We all grow up and have coming-of-age moments. It doesn’t matter when you were born or what age you are now.
You have in common with other people of any age the event of change that is associated with a growth in understanding, maturity, and becoming who you are.
Sometimes these moments of change are referred to as epiphanic turning points. That means: we used to be like this, and now we are like this.
It is not the particulars of the experience that make this kind of moment a universal experience; it is the event itself.
Different fields of study approach this event of change and assign agendas and name expectations of what could happen next.
Psychologists plumb the depths of coming-of-age moments to prompt self-revelation or bring consolation to an event that was painful, possibly traumatic.
Employers evaluate and hire candidates based on their resumes’ timelines of career growth and the advancement of expertise.
Religious people might point to a change in their spiritual maturity and name that moment of change metanoia.
All these responses point to a truth about it, but only the person living the moment and reliving it later re-experiences the vitality stored in a memory that promoted personal change or growth.
That phrase “in the moment” feels awfully insignificant because it is so transitory. But while the effect of remembering an episodic memory may only last a brief time it has a potent, refreshing effect.
If someone is living in an assisted living home or any place that is not their preferred homeplace, that touching time in a memory that makes you feel stronger is priceless.
If that person not only lives in an assisted living home and also in a body that manages chronic illness, the effect is even more profound.
Imagine feeling more at home in a place and your body by simply getting in touch with an episodic memory that resurrects you-ness—who you really are inside yourself.
That can happen when the activities scheduled for residents of assisted living homes tie into the cultural times of their growing up.
If you are half the age of the people in your assisted living home, how do you know who the people were your people know, the songs they sang or hummed or whistled, or the movies and books that created an emotional landscape that is linked to their emotional moments of you-ness?
This series of Memory Care books is intended to introduce Activity Directors to the popular culture touchstones that could prompt you-ness memories.
It is laid out in birthdays of 20th century popular culture creators because, most likely, an Activity Director knows and celebrates the birthdays of his/her residents. (Caregivers at home do this too.) Weave the dates of popular culture creators into your in-house calendar of birthdays, and you initiate the potent process of prompting an association with an artifact of time that could promote well-being.

Maya Angelou
Fred Astaire
Irving Berlin
Pearl Buck
Carol Burnett
Charlie Chaplin
Rosemary Clooney
Perry Como
Bing Crosby
Bette Davis
Doris Day
Duke Ellington
Glenn Ford
Sigmund Freud
Judy Garland
James Garner
Marvin Gaye
Susan Hayward
Audrey Hepburn
William Holden
Bob Hope
Lena Horne
Kathryn Kuhlman
Harper Lee
Frederick Loewe
Dorothy McGuire
Hattie McDaniel
Dean Martin
Dorothy McGuire
Hayley Mills
Marilyn Monroe
Norman Vincent Peale
Gregory Peck
Cole Porter
Robert Preston
Debbie Reynolds
Richard Rodgers
Jane Russell
Rosalind Russell
Kate Smith
James Stewart
Shirley Temple
Spencer Tracy
John Wayne
Meredith Willson

About the author: Daphne Simpkins is best known for writing about Mildred Budge, but she writes extensively on caregiving too. Follow her on Amazon, Facebook, or Linkedin.com