Recently while at breakfast with a few friends, one of them was telling us about his mother- in-law’s estate sale that had taken place as a result of her move to an independent living facility. He was talking about all of the “things” that were in the sale, items accumulated throughout his mother and father-in-law’s lifetime, causing him to conclude that all these “things” just didn’t seem to matter since they were sold off or given away to strangers.
About the same time, another friend told us about his wife, Janice, who had been helping a few elderly people in a local senior living community to write their story using the Guided Autobiography process. The contrast couldn’t have been more apparent. On the one hand, there were “things” that had to be gotten rid of because a woman was needing to downsize. Although at one time those things were important to her and her husband, now they just needed to be disposed of. And on the other hand, there were the real-life stories of people, being put down on paper to be delighted in and shared with their friends and family. Continue reading →