An Inspirational Woman

My earliest memory is set in my great grandmother’s back yard.  Her name was Emma Kunz.  She and her husband Reinhart were both first generation Americans.  Their families emigrated from the same area of the Ukraine, spoke low German and settled on farm land in North Dakota.  They moved to Boise to escape the Dust Bowl.  The wage at her favorite job was 17 ¢ an hour.

The first elections in the North End of Boise were held on the Kunz front porch.  After a few years the voting moved to Washington Elementary, where it was run by Emma and her descendants for more than 40 years.

One morning in September about 3 years ago Emma fell in her backyard and broke her back.  She lay in the grass, unable to move, for hours before a neighbor saw her and called an ambulance.  From the hospital she moved into an assisted living facility, where her mental state deteriorated rapidly.  Eventually she moved to an Alzheimer’s ward, where she died.

I feel so blessed that Emma was part of my life.  I learned so much from her.  One thing that she taught me unintentionally was the value of studying and understanding the aging process.  With a little foresight, it would have been possible for her to live in her own home until she died.  So much of what troubled Emma in her last years could have been minimized, if she had been willing to prepare.  The choices we make while in our 20s and 30s will drastically effect how we age into our 80s and 90s.

This blog will bring together my research on the contexts of aging, specifically looking at things that can be implemented while young to affect the aging experience.  The first area I am going to investigate is proactive home modifications.  My next area of interest is maintaining physical health into old age.  Working from there, I would like to delve into mental acuity in old age.  I will wrap up with a conclusion post, followed by a references post.  

Whispering Jesse

By John Denver.

I often have wandered in deep contemplation
It seems that the mind runs wild when you’re all alone
The way that it could be
The way that it should be
Thing’s I’d do differently if I could do them again

I’ve always loved spring time, the passing of winter
The green of the new leaves and life goin’ on
The promise of morning
The long days of summer
Warm nights of loving her beneath the bright stars

I’m just an old cowboy from high Colorado
I’m too old to ride anymore, too blind to see
I sleep in the city now
Away from the mountains
Away from the cabin we always called home

I dream I left there
On an old Palomino
Whispering Jesse rode right by my side

I long to hold her
To hear her soft breathing
The touch of her cool hands on my fevered brow

Whispering Jesse still rides in the mountains
Still sings in the canyons
Still lives in my heart