スキップしてメイン コンテンツに移動

Supporting my fav seniors#2 Enjoying Time Together Is Productive

Halloween is growing popular also here in Japan, with more shopping centers and local communities organizing events.

I didn’t mean to copy them, but I have also organized a Halloween party  with my neighbors for the last five years or so. We started this event with the hope that this could be an opportunity for local residents to get to know each other.

 

Participants would visit places like private houses of seniors who would support the event, a residential home for seniors, a flower shop, a bicycle shop, a chocolate shop, a community house, and many more.

Every year, we make up a story (e.g., searching for a “fugitive pumpkin”) and create a map that goes along with it. Children and adults walk around the neighborhood with the map and explore the neighborhood.

 

A dog statue with a red bell pepper (pretending to be the “fugitive pumpkin”) at the entrance of a home for seniors, one of the check points in the walking event.

The staff there would wait for participants with sweets, and the residents would sit next to the dog and wave at children.


A chocolate shop in the neighborhood, another check point in the walking.

The shop doesn’t give out chocolate but sells special Halloween sets, which mothers accompanying children would buy as treats for themselves.



The stairs at my house, the starting point of the walking.

With our motto “no money and no effort,” we decorated the stairs with plastic bottles provided by neighbors.

Lots of men and women of all ages enjoyed making them, such as pouring colored water to the bottles and sticking face parts onto them.

 

I still remember one of the participants, a single mother holding a baby around three months old. She came to us and said, “Even I can join you?” with tears in her eyes.

She had just moved to this area and was watching us from the balcony of her apartment at the corner. The event gave her an opportunity to meet and make friends with other young mothers.

 

Another participant, an older gentleman, usually stays at home because of knee pain. But every year at our Halloween event, he would come over to the event site, saying, “Looking good, looking good,” and watch over children for over two hours. The image of his back with these children has become one of the Halloween symbols in our community.

Different people are involved in the event in various ways. For example, an older lady would donate sweets even though she wouldn’t participate in the walking itself. A former welfare commissioner would go grocery shopping just around when local kids would explore the neighborhood, talking to them and making sure they are safe.

 

As the event grew to nearly 100 participants, it became difficult to manage with just a few of us. But lots of local seniors have taken part in whatever the capacity they could to support the event.

When leaving the event site, these senior participants would thank us because, according to them, “We’re not helping you. We’re just having fun.”

 

We are receiving more and more positive comments such as, “The event is becoming a place to get loosely connected with people and create something small but productive.”

We have never had any big ambition from the beginning, and we still do it because we want to have fun. If it’s not fun anymore, we can stop it anytime. That’s the idea. No pressure.

 

This whole Hallowing thing started when my daughter, who was three years old back then, had too much time to kill. We decided to make a surprise visit to an old gentleman in the neighborhood.

I secretly brought candy, handed it to the gentleman, and asked him to give it to my daughter.

 

But once we started it, this gentleman, who was usually a quiet person, kept talking and serving Japanese snacks like dried squid, brown sugar candy, and chewy rice crackers.

Watching the happy faces of the three-year-old and the senior, I started thinking, “Hmm, maybe so many different connections can be made if we expand this?!”

 

Some of my friends in the neighborhood supported this idea, and we all brought together what we had at home to start the Halloween event.


The circle has been expanding, with more people across generations, from children and parents to seniors, enjoying time together while giving their hands and mouth.


As we connected all generations’ “enjoying time together,” it has developed into a place created by everyone.

I’m not sure if we will have another Halloween party next year, but I sure hope we can have more places like that.

 

Well, I guess we’ll do it next year too….

Because it’s FUN 🤭


Shino Sawaoka

Associate Professor,

Dept. of Health Management,

Tokai University 

 

コメント

コメントを投稿

このブログの人気の投稿

Supporting my fav seniors #4 Being Productive Can Take Many Forms

 “My 90-year-old mom lived in a care home, and she was losing strength and energy. So I asked her if there’s anything she’d like to do. What do you think she said?” I was asked this question by Ms. C, the representative of an organization helping people find Ikigai (meaning and purposes of life), who also provided support for her mother.   What came to my mind was the image of my grandfather a few days before he passed away, mumbling “I want to eat eel at the XX restaurant in Nihonbashi.” It turned out that Ms. C also expected a similar response like “I want to eat my favorite XX.”   “But I was wrong. She quietly said, ‘I want to work’.” Ms. C told me that such conversations with her mother had led her to develop a place for people to stay productive as they age. I nodded in total agreement, but…   This conversation also reminded me of the words by a participant in an Ikigai class I taught; it was a woman in her late 70s. She whispered to me: “Wel...
コメントを投稿
続きを読む

推し活とプロダクティブ#5 　　　　一年の「コドク」とプロダクティブ

「わたしね、この時期があまり好きじゃないの、だって一年で 1 番コドクを感じるから」 毎年、年末に近づくと思い出すのがこの言葉。   言葉の主は、リーダーとまではいかないけれど、体操グループでいつも楽しそうな雰囲気で場を盛り上げる M さん。 10 年以上前にご主人を看取り、今は、体操グループ以外にも色々な活動に参加するアクティブな 80 代。   お子さんの話はあまり聴いたことがないのだけれど、遠くに住んでいるのか、すれ違いがあるのか、あまり行き来はない様子。 それを補うわけではないけれど、「日常で頼れるのは近くの仲間」というのが一人暮らしを続けるための M さんの持論。   ゆるやかに多様な 100 のつながりを自分の周りにつくることが大事。 誰かの 100 のつながりの百分の一になることも大事という百人力の研究をしているワタシにとって M さんはお手本の様な人なのだけど … 。   そんな M さんの口から一年のコドクの話をうかがった時には、正直なところ、かなりビックリした。 いつも居場所になっているコミュニティスペースはお休み、仲間もそれぞれのお家の行事で忙しくて誘いづらい、というのがコドクの原因。   街を歩けばクリスマスやお正月ムード、テレビを観れば里帰りに新幹線を待つ家族の楽しそうなインタビュー。 せめてもとおせちの黒豆を煮たのだけど、食べているうちに、あっ、私、一人なんだ … と悲しくなった … とポツリ。   確かに、地域のサロンなどをやっている人も子ども家族が来たりで、年末年始はほとんどの場が活動をお休みするわけで。 遠慮と、ひとりぼっちを知られたくないという多少の見栄もあって、仲間への電話も LINE も控えてしまったり。   そんな M さんのお話から考えはじめたのが、楽しいはずの年末年始に毎年のように襲ってくるコドクの和らげ方。 だって、日本もこれだけひとり暮らしが増えていて、誰もが直面する可能性のある課題だから。   たかだか 1 〜２週間の話だけれど、老いを感じることが増える毎日のなかで、毎年のように繰り返される負の影響はかなりなもの。 多分、ひとりでずっと生き...
コメントを投稿
続きを読む

推し活とプロダクティブ#4　　　　　　　　　　 プロダクティブは「多様」

「施設に入っていた 90 歳の母、身体も弱ってきて、元気もなくなっていたのね。なにかしたいことあるって聞いたら、なんて答えたと思う？」 こんな問いをしてきたのは、生きがいづくりを応援する活動団体の代表でもあり、ご自身のお母様をサポートする C さん。   私の頭に浮かんだのは、「日本橋〇〇のうなぎが食べたい」と亡くなる数日前に呟いた祖父の姿。 C さんも同じだったようで、「大好物の ◾️◾️ が食べたい」なんて答えが返ってくると思っていらしたとのこと。   「でもね、違ったの。働きたいって、ポツリと呟いたの」 そんなお母様とのやり取りから、 C さんは、歳を重ねても可能な限り長くプロダクティブでいられる場づくりに取り組むようなったとのお話をうかがい、大いに頷いた私だったのですが … 。   ふと、思い出したのが、生きがいづくりの講座で講演した際に聴こえてきた受講者からの言葉。 「ねえ、イキイキしないとダメなの？そう言われると、なんだか辛い … 」と小さな声で私に呟いたのは 70 代後半の女性。   その瞬間に感じたのは、無意識に生きづらさを生み出してしまった自分の配慮のなさ。 プロダクティブや生きがいは、仕事して働き続けることやスーパーボランティアや地域のリーダーになることだけではないはずなのに … 。   その女性には、自分の楽しいことや好きなことを周りに少しシェアする位でよくて、イキイキの姿は人それぞれでよいことをご説明させて頂き、笑顔で帰っていただのだけれど … 。 それ以来、気をつけすぎる位に丁寧にお伝えしているのは、プロダクティブのあり方は多様で、そこに優劣はないということ。   今考えると、最期を迎える前の祖父も、鰻が食べたかったのではなく、多分、孫や子どもを自分の贔屓の店に連れて行って喜ばせたかったのかもしれない 大事な誰かに好きをシェアしたい、そんな祖父の想いが詰まった言葉が、「日本橋の〇〇のうなぎが食べたい」だったのかな … 。   今なら少しわかる、祖父の気持ち。 あの時に理解できていたら、もう少し違う会話ができたのかな … と、 30 年前を振り返る毎日です。     -...
コメントを投稿
続きを読む