I was asked to do story ropes last year with elders in their 80's & 90's at an assisted living residence.
It was so rewarding to sit, listen & watch as they touched & told about each strip representing an important piece of their story. A privilege really to facilitate this looking back.
Some story fragments:
...my childhood was very happy
...then the war
...this was the depression
...and this was Pearl Harbor
...my mother died in childbirth
...there was no work we moved
...Hitler came and it was bad for a long time
...I liked playing in the dirt with my brother's friends
...my father died in Auschwitz
...I went to college
...we were poor
...my mother wanted me to study to get a job
...we went to a lake in Hungary
...we had a wonderful life
Someone I met recently saw the story rope idea & wants to make one with her aging parent in the early stages of Alzheimer's, before all the stories are gone. Deep.
So many situations. So many directions to take this idea.
I've been invited back. I wouldn't miss doing it again.
Photo: My friend, Herb, holding the black rick-rack saying, "This is Pearl Harbor."
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