Thursday, September 15, 2011

Stories of elderly individuals

As an elderly person living independently, there is a certain time of day when she feels that loneliness does creep in.  This admission solidifies the lived time component in Alice’s life experience. She says, “I’d say between 4.00 P.M to 7.00 P.M; that’s kind of like it is dusk and that, to me, is that in-between.”  She feels very adamant about this lived time aspect, as she chose to mention it in both of the interviews conducted.
With her soft-spoken voice, Alice expresses her feeling further explains that getting around in the winter is not a problem for her because she remains homebound.  Naturally, the cold stops her from going out. However, even during the summer, she realizes that she is less active, as well because she does not like the outdoors when it is too hot. She concludes, “That’s why I like it better in the springtime.” She convinces herself that staying inside during the summer is naturally all right.  Above all, she has her own preferences for certain types of weather and that helps her to be more active. Besides facing the different seasons of the year and living alone, she tries to convince herself that even though she is alone, she can never be lonely.  However, she realizes, in reality that it is a feeling of loneliness that she is experiencing. Gradually she accepts the fact that loneliness does occur in her life of being alone.
Extract of Doctorate Dissertation, Abas, 2007.

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