SENIOR PROJECT - taking a different tack

If, out of all the schemes hatching in my noggin to set elder care on its head, I was allowed to foster develop establish one & one only, it would be a spin off of Cory Boyce's 4th year elective, the legendary "Senior Project."  .

I know how moving it is to see the collection of student mission statements that line the top floor hallway of De Charms Hall.  But for older folks?  For senior citizens?

Well, Mom wrote one.  She wrote it after our 1997 trip to & from DisneyWorld, wrote for her own satisfaction, inspired by Stephen Covey, a big believer in family & personal mission statements.  I wasn't involved in her process - Mom thrashed it out on her own - and I have no idea where it is now, but I remember how much it meant to her.  So, yes - definitely for older  folks.

It is impossible to express how strongly I feel that writing a mission statement, lead by someone who can gently help olders step back & appreciate their life & consider their future, would be prove invaluable.  Sadly, there's little out there on the internet about using mission statements to help olders relate to their current day realities & look ahead with a sense of purpose.  

Never, not once, all those years ago ~ ~  when I was working with the various execs & department heads at Prudential, helping them craft their business group's individual mission statement, working with all the VPs to come up with our region's, working with the top brass on a company-wide statement ~ ~ did it ever once dawn on me, "Gee, this might be a great exercise for Grandma R. or Viola or Miss Cornelia to tackle."  Not once did I think to myself, talking with Mom about the power of personal mission statements, "Some day, I'm going to develop a program for elders to ponder & write their own."  Not once, as I looked at the variety of student mission statements that ...  Wait!  I did  think to myself, "Gee, this would be great for older people to do, too."  

Gulp.  Guess that leaves it in my wheel-house.  YIKES!  Me?  Take Cory's Senior Project on a different tack?   Double gulp.  But then, I have to ask...  If not me, who?  If not now, when? 

Of all the schemes whirling around in my brain, THIS one, dearest to my heart, tops of my elder care anarchist TO DO list.  Not a  soft-focus "wouldn't it be nice if some one some day did this?" whisp of pleasant thought, but a hard-edged, heart-infused GOAL.  

Big GULP & (leaving nautical terms behind) a rowdy "head 'em up, move 'em out!"