I planned to replace my laptop. It is losing memory and getting slower when I save and process research data. Technically, it is already old, and with all information uploaded on it, its processor is outdated and needs updating or replacement. As a researcher, I need a fast laptop to receive and respond to what I want to do. It is so irritating when deadlines are fast approaching.
Now, at 62 years old, I imagine myself like a laptop already loaded with volumes of information and memories of years of physical and mental work. I have both happy and sad memories in my personal, familial, and professional life. But with the diverse memories stored in my head, I have already difficulty remembering some of them. Perhaps, what I had retained are only those most memorable that popped up when triggered by some significant cues.
Unless due to medical conditions and emotional problems, experts explained that forgetfulness is a normal part of aging. It is a consequence of body changes, particularly the brain that makes it difficult for older persons to learn new skills and retain large information. There is a disconnect between what they think and what they want to do. “I am already old” is a common justification for being forgetful so one become patient with them as gestures of being considerate and emphatic.
The popular saying “it’s hard to teach an old dog with new tricks” may refer to anyone stubborn to learn new skills. But this assertion still applies to some older people who are tired to go through the process of re-learning unless they considered it necessary. Oftentimes, these are older people who accepted themselves as already useless and preferred to be socially isolated.
The Dr. Mariano Lao Innovation, Creation, & Invention Laboratory of Silliman University breaks that perception of learning difficulty due to old age.
Although it is difficult to teach computing skills among aging people compared to the young, the ICIL offers free computer education for older people which draws many participants.
According to Dr. Dave Marcial who heads ICIL, older people also enjoy the company of their cohort. They stayed and patiently learned until they completed the training for several weekends.
Meanwhile, in the opposite end of memory loss is memory recall, or the tendency of older people to tell stories of growing up, high school adventures, college life, building a family, work and traveling, and so on.
The stories most likely are about their achievements or their ability to overcome life difficulties. The narrative is either aimed to draw life lessons for their children to learn from or to boost self-esteem when they feel they are no longer given attention.
The narrative would start with “during our time” or “when we were yet in high school” and then followed with how things should be done based on what were the practices in the past.
There are lessons from their stories but the recollection does not only happen once which bored or irritated those listening. The same story goes on and on when older people are triggered by an event or a problem.
Oftentimes, tension would erupt when the young contest and the old insist on certain points of the narratives.
The extreme manifestations of the combination of the behaviors closely resemble the Hiligaynon word ulianon. The root word uli means return or going back while the suffix anon may mean a tendency.
Thus, this word describes an older person who returns to childhood, or aptly, second childhood–but not everyone would experience this. The descriptions of ulianon closely resemble dementia which medical experts considered not a part of normal aging. The worst could be Alzheimer’s disease.
Should children get irritated with the forgetfulness and redundancy of their aging parents? They must not be and instead they have to be aware of what “second childhood” would be like while yet going to that worse stage of older adult life. Children should be empathic now to avoid any unpleasant experiences when their time comes.
Being patient, supporting, comforting, reassuring, non-arguing, and facilitating are some qualities children need to demonstrate while their aging parents still recognize or remember them.
Aging parents once demonstrated these qualities while they earnestly raised their children. Like old laptops, aging parents made what their children have become now, but they could not just be replaced.
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Author’s email: enriquegoracion@su.edu.ph
