Field Notes One.edevault

Well, I just got back from the first DW Retirement Center visit.


The administrator and one of the staff took us on an initial, "getting to know you" tour of the facilities. I think we'll be mainly be working in the Wylie center, where there are those who need help reading but are not considerably hindered, in case we might be put in situations we don't know how to handle.

After the tour, we were immediately put to work; Robert and I decided to work together. We first visited a Ms. "Col.". We tentatively knocked on her door, asking if she would like us to sit and talk with her. She seemed more than welcome to let us in. Robert and I discussed our backgrounds and our college life so far, just as an introductory phase. After that, we read Romans, chapters 1-2, I reading the first and Robert reading the second. Reading Romans again, I realized how very simple the language is, yet how very beautiful. Perhaps it is because these words gave (and continue to give) me glorious life that I admired their beauty, their humility, their holiness. Reading Scripture aloud gives a new perspective to the reader--I personally have to pay more attention to exactly what it is I'm saying. Because of this, I draw more from the text. Not only was the reading a blessing to Ms. Col. , it was a great blessing to me.

Next we visited Ms. Cx, who invited us to sit with her in the patio as we talked and introduced ourselves. By this time our visit was winding down, and we only got to talk for a little while. Ms. Cx spoke of her past homes and the books she had recently read (One called "America", I think, where the author traveled from city to city and lived in each for a time). We then followed her to the T.V. room where we sat and talked among other Wylie residents, some of which told us old Erskine stories and asked about students we might know who sometimes visited the center.

Although not all of the visit was strictly reading, there was another "reading" occurring in me--the ability to read personalities. Although I may want to deny it, there is a considerable difference in the thinking of retirement-age person and my own generation. It's these differences that sometimes made it difficult to understand certain sentiments and meanings at the center. It's a new language that fascinates me, and it's something I am willing to learn.

Elizabeth