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Oh, the Lives Our Seniors have Lived!

4/1/2014

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President Kennedy
Ever think about what the senior citizens in your life have lived through?  Imagine what they’ve experienced.  If they are part of “The Greatest Generation” they lived through the Depression and World War II; they saw the rise and fall of Communism; they witnessed the rapidly-changing technologies and inventions of so many things that we take for granted today such as the blender and sound motion pictures in 1922, the first photocopier that was invented in 1938, color TV and penicillin in 1942, duct tape in 1940; the atomic bomb and the first Tupperware were invented in 1945.  How did we live without those things today?

For the Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964, they saw even more changes in their world. A Baby Boomer, Steven Jobs invented the Apple II personal computer in 1984; the World Wide Web was invented in 1989; the first credit card was introduced by Diners Club in 1950.  The Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement in the 60’s and the assassination of President Kennedy are memories many Baby Boomers will never forget.  They also remember in the 60’s that the 1st man walked on the moon with “one small step” and the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan in 1963 launching the “British Invasion”. A new house could be bought for $12,700, a gallon of gas for .25 and a new car for less than $3000.00 in the 60’s.  What a world we had before all those things came to be taken for granted!

The seniors at Willson House who are from “The Greatest Generation” and the “Baby Boomer” generations have led amazing lives and had such interesting careers.  During a quick visit with one resident, Lorena, last week I asked her what piece of advice she would give me if she had one important thing to tell me from her life experiences. She said, “Never give up!”  

I received an interesting email from a friend this week that reminded me of Lorena’s advice to “never give up.”  Often we think that successful people had an easy path in life.  Click on the link http://distractify.com/people/famous-people-rejection-letters/ and you’ll see why never giving up is an attribute that we must possess if we are to make our dreams come true.  Oprah and Steve Jobs were both fired once!  Stephen King’s first book “Carrie” was rejected 30 times!  Marilyn Monroe was told she’d be better off forgetting about being a movie star and becoming a secretary instead!  Thank you, Lorena, for telling me to never give up!  I will heed that advice the next time I encounter something that seems way too hard for me to do.  —Mary Reitan, Community Outreach Director for Willson House and Jason Lee Manor

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Willson House - A Residential Care Community
1625 Center Street NE, Salem, Oregon  97301
Phone: 503-585-6511 - E-mail: info@WillsonHouse.org