Star comment: Hospice to be lauded for records
Too often as a society the anecdotes, experiences and opinions of the elderly are ignored.
Emphasis, it seems, is always placed on what young people think with an overwhelming focus on the latest ‘trends’.
No wonder so many pensioners are often left feeling alienated or lonely.
Certainly, the broadcast and online media acts as if the over-50 population simply does not exist.
But we all know there is a great deal that young people could learn about life from the wisdom and knowledge of our senior citizens. That’s why it is a truly fantastic initiative by Mary Stevens Hospice in Stourbridge to record the life stories of its terminally-ill patients.
Of course, sadly not all of these people will necessarily be elderly – but the vast majority will be.
Many of us will have been in the situation where having lost a loved one we then always regret never asking them questions about their life.
Certainly the generation who grew up during the war years are the most remarkable people still walking the planet. The change they have seen in their lifetimes is without precedent or parallel.
Our country, society, and the world has changed beyond recognition since their childhoods. There is nothing they have not seen during their time.
During this project, a volunteer will sit down with patients in the hospice and talk to them about their lives while recording the conversation.
It will serve as a timeless and cherished record of their lives filled with their memories. It is so simple and effective that it is incredible that no-one has thought of it before.
History is shaped by people’s experiences, opinions, and records.
But while up to now that has been the domain of academics, it will now be in the hands of ordinary people.
Mary Stevens Hospice should be congratulated for what will be a pioneering scheme that will hopefully be replicated all over the country.
New technology makes it so much easier to ensure that our ancestors’ legacies are not forgotten.
It will forge new relationships between different generations of families who may never have met or got to know each other properly because of death.
To make this project a success, Mary Stevens Hospice needs volunteers.
We would encourage everyone to do their bit and help bring these families together. Knowing about our past makes us so much more wiser when looking to the future.
