Stephanie's Narrative

When I first came to Oak Crest and learned that I would be working in the assisted living section of the campus I felt completely unsure of myself. I had never experienced a grandparent with dementia or Alzheimer's, so this was completely out of my element. I asked the staff for help on reading selections and they gave me great insight into the best ways to approach reading with my resident, Mrs. Annbinder. After hearing their suggestions, I chose the novel Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay because of its interesting plotline and straightforward text.

My meetings with Ms. Annbinder were shaky at first. She often did not feel up to reading with me so I ended up reading to her for the time I was there. Some days she did not remember me or would ask the same question many times. I got to see how frustrating it must be to live with memory loss and how difficult it can make life. I learned how to remain patient with her when she was struggling and not coddle her when she was doing well. After a few weeks of reading we began to make some progress in the novel and we were joined by another resident – Ms. Henning.

Ms. Henning is new to the assisted living building and she is strictly limited by her physical ailments. When she joined us the group really made some progress. Ms. Annbinder had a few good days in a row and I began to learn about their personal lives. There were some days that I just sat and listened to their stories about their experiences during World War II. We connected their personal life experiences to the experiences of the characters in the novel and I learned so much about what the war was really like for people of the time.

Getting to know two women from Oak Crest was one of the best experiences of my life. I saw World War II from the many perspectives of the novel and from the perspectives of the two residents. The elderly have such a wealth of knowledge to share and they truly enjoyed sharing it. I also learned about the truths of aging and I feel I have a new appreciation for the elderly. Oak Crest is an amazing place that takes great care of the residents. Overall, I could not have had a better time with my one-on-one reading.