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Adult Aging Interview Essay

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Adult Aging Interview “The best classroom is at the feet of an elderly person,” said by a famous American radio and television writer, Andy Rooney. Elderly has so much to teach the younger generation because they have been through an array of events in life that are worth sharing and knowing. The purpose of the study is to understand the experience of aging and late adulthood by using case study method through interview and informal interaction with an older adult. Given the circumstance of long distance, Skype is used to conduct the interview and informal interaction. Mary, is a vibrant and healthy Chinese elderly woman who turned 75 last summer. She is an atheist who has lived in Hong Kong for her entire life and would be classified as middle class lifestyle. She is widowed and lives alone but she has four children and eight grandchildren. Since she is active, healthy and independent, the “young-old” would be the best term to describe Mary according to gerontologists (Berger, 2014, p.675). Looking at Mary’s life history can help us better understand her experience of aging and late adulthood. Mary was born in 1941 in a relatively poor family. Our informal interaction and interview had given a chance for she to provide her life review. Life review is a healing process according to Robert Butler (Butler, 1974). She said that she lived in a government subsidies unit where bathroom and kitchen were shared with other families when she was young. Growing up in harsh life

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