1965 - Slice of My Life

Seniors, have you tried writing your life story? Or just short anecdotes or vignettes? Here is one from my blog at http://lifestorytelling.com.

1965 - A Slice of Life - Scandal and Me

Open the mind's closet for 1965.

I'm 13 years old, and this is the era of "Scandal and Me." Scandal was a black half-Arabian, half-thoroughbred mare. Scandal and I often stayed out on the trails in the snowy winters until after dark. I leaned down low over her neck, shining a flashlight on the paths. It was an adventure.

It's 1965, and I'm in the 8th grade.

A huge horse farm was built a few years ago across the corn field behind our house. For several years I've been working there after school and on Saturdays.

In the 6th grade I started at $2 a day and now I'm up to $3. I give the money to my parents to help with Scandal's expenses.

School's from 8 to 3:15, and by 3:40 I'm heading over to Fairlane Farms. Several years ago my parents put in a corral in the back. My dreams came true when I got a beautiful black half-Arabian, half-thoroughbred mare, Scandal.

It's winter, and after school it's dash out to throw the bridle and saddle on Scandal, ride through the fields to the horse farm.

Put Scandal in an empty stall, start brushing and saddling horses, get the students on their horses, accompany them on any horse that needs exercise or training to the riding ring where the stable owner gives lessons.

After half hour in the ring, then I take them for a 15-20 minute trail ride. Then we get the next group of students out for another lesson.

If it's raining or snowy the lessons are held in the indoors riding ring.

At 6 pm the second lesson ends, we unsaddle and put the horses away, and start filling water buckets with hoses, cleaning, getting the flakes of hay and filling the grain buckets.

The stable owner has a large family and by working there I am part of the extended family.

Speakers in the barn and indoor ring provide the times' popular music for our riding and chores. We might be trotting around the ring to "I Wanna Hold Your Haaaand."

Now we're done. My friends, who now have horses too, often hang around the barn as it's our second home. We can pretend to be horses.

We gallop around, whinnying and neighing, jumping hay bales, barrels, and low post and rails. Since the first grade we've been drawing horses, watching horse movies, dreaming horses, imagining what it's like to be a horse.

Now it's 6:30 or close to 7, and it's dark outside in the winter. Scandal and I set out across the snowy fields for home, under the stars.

I carry a flashlight in one hand to light her way on the paths, and lean over close to her mane for warmth, escaping the night wind. I know she will take good care of me. We're that close.

There's a flood light on at the hay barn and corral at my house. I take off Scandal's saddle and bridle, and brush her to smooth the hair.

In the winter she has a loooooonnnng shaggy coat, like a horse from the north pole.

I feed her some treats, we talk or communicate in our own way, and I break open a bale of hay.

She has a 3 sided shed but is free to roam outside. It's nice to see her have this freedom to roam instead of living in a stall.

It's important to me for Scandal to be happy. If I were her, I'd want that freedom.

I check the heating coil in the water trough to be sure it's working and she has water not ice. Janey, the retired racehorse our vet gave me, and her colt are there too.

My feet feel a little numb from the cold, although I've got them wrapped in celaphane to keep dampness out, am wearing a pair of wool socks and a pair of knee socks, and a pair of rubber riding boots.

Of course I have on long underwear tops and bottoms, wool riding britches, and a winter parka. It's a wonder a person can get a foot up in the stirrup to get on with all these clothes.

My ears are covered with a knitted ear warmer that goes under the riding helmet. One's hands start to get numb in this cold too but this is all unimportant compared to the rewards of horses.

Soon the horses are happily muching. There's a starry sky, a moon reflecting on the snow, and it's sooooo peaceful. I loiter but finally go back to the house. It's time to have supper, take the Irish Setters out for walks, and do homework.

Can't wait for tomorrow afternoon, when Scandal and I share another adventure.

What Is it Like To Be 108 Years Old? Australian Olive O'Riley Can Tell You

The video below features Australian Olive O'Riley, now 108, who went back to visit her childhood home in 2004. She was born in 1899 in the heart of Australia in Broken Hill. Her visit was recorded in the video below. She is known as the oldest blogger on the internet. You can visit her website at All About Olive.

Her friend, Mike Rubbo, assists her with the blog and makes the videos. The entire video All About Olive is available for purchase at Ronin Films .

Seniors' Life Story Telling - A Chance to Communicate, Share, Understand

Seniors' life story telling gives later generations insight into what it was like ,on a day to day basis, to live through different eras and cultural changes. Understanding the different conditions of daily life that existed during a senior's childhood, 60 or 70 years ago, helps explain things that might be puzzling to someone today. For example, if you wonder why grandmother never throws anything away, it could be a habit from growing up during the Great Depression.

I know someone like this and here is his story. He is in his mid-70's now, and describes living in a tent in the California Central Valley as a child during the 1930's Great Depression. The family had come to California from the Oklahoma dustbowl. His mother had died of pneumonia and his father worked in the fields.

He remembers his father would drag a long bag for the cotton, that looped over his shoulder while he was picking. As a child he played by riding on the cotton bag as his father dragged it along the ground.

For a Christmas tree there was often a dried cotton stalk with cotton balls for decorations. Toys were blocks of wood and imagination was used to turn them into cars or tractors.

When he was about 6 years old he began working in the fields picking cotton too. School attendance was only possible between field work, and after the eighth grade he stopped attending school and helped the family survive by working in the fields full time.

This senior today has several storage buildings full of personal items that he collected throughout his lifetime. He keeps everything, and explained it's a habit from living during the Depression. Survival was hard, everything was reused, and objects were too difficult to obtain to be able to easily discard them.

I used questions and prompts to encourage him to share his story. He said he hadn't thought about it lately, but he would like a copy of the longer version I made of his story to give to his children, who haven't heard it before. Often people talk in generalities about their life history and the details of daily living don't come up.

It was easy to understand my friend's habit of being a "collector" after I heard his story. His adult children were glad to have it as part of the family history.

Anthropologist Teaches Seniors Class Life Story Writing

"Voices from the Past, Gifts for the Future" is the motto for a class of seniors aged 50 on up, who participate in "Life Story Writing - A Guided Course in Memoir/Autobiography Writing. The class is taught by Anthropologist Myla Collier and is part of the Cuesta Community College Adult Emeritus classes, San Luis Obispo County, California. Retrieval of detailed memories from 40, 60 or 80 years ago, by using Myla's system of Memory Joggers for each time period in life, enables students to write and preserve their life stories.

Myla teaches a group of life story classes in San Luis Obispo County,Ca., and the Grover Beach class is shown in the photo. From left to right are Olivia Scholz, Jessie Stone, Cheryl Hagopian, Gary Simms, Mary LeBlanc, Anthropologist and Instructor Myla Collier, Sara Medzyk, Arnie Dowdy, Phyllis Simms, Susie Tacbas, and Chester Johnson. (Photo by student Kristi Gott, not pictured).

Elders storytelling and seniors' life story writing are popular trends today. Classes and groups can be found through local community education programs, college programs, and genealogy groups.

Traditionally seniors have been society's storytellers, who preserved the family history, and passed on details of an era to the next generation. Seniors' life story telling is a chance for family and friends to gather around, and hear about times that have disappeared forever.

Instructor Myla Collier sits at the end of the table in the photo, with Phyllis Sims, age 80, sitting on her right, sharing her life story. Her husband, Gary Sims, age 81, also a prolific life story writer, sits to the left of Myla. The class gathers round to share and discuss. Chester Johnson, age 84, far right, is also a skilled storyteller. He shares many interesting facts in his life stories about growing up in Louisianna.


In my current class we link the historical events with life events, and write a chonological life story, starting with birth. Photos and other memory treasures are brought to class and become part of each life stage, as we write the life stories. As class members create a written record of their life histories, they often include valuable genealogy information that will be passed on for generations.

Sharing their life stories brings people closer to each other. Seniors often find that writing life stories helps them to feel more comfortable with the past. Painful events can be softened by the passage of time, and humorous events might become funnier in the retelling.

Putting the events together, in a chronological narrative, makes many people feel that having a timeline makes looking back less confusing.

Teacher and Anthropologist Myla Collier advises students to use the Memory Joggers which are part of the class materials. She also says that if a memory keeps coming up to "go ahead and write it down while it is fresh in your mind."

Examples of Memory Joggers are questions such as "What were your first impressions as you started school?" Many people are surprised at the details they can remember once they get started.

Using photos and family memorabilia helps jog the memories also. The class members agree that writing a life history provides good mental exercise. Sharing life histories with class members, family and friends provides a chance for social interaction.

Many life history writers also become active with family history and genealogy.