I feel caught in our cultural myth that aging is really a failure, that if only I did it right I possibly could avoid old age, even avoid death. Just what a peculiar notion! We have some ideas that as we age we are no longer sexy, vital, juicy. Sometimes when I head into a room I feel as if I’m invisible, as well as worse, an outcast.- getting fit after 60 ‘m well aware of the fact that I’m old. Incidentally, I used to state “old,” but now when I’m asked in interviews, “How old are you currently?” I reply, “Well, I grew up in China in a period when age was venerated, so I am eighty six years venerable.-Huston Smith

I’ve found that venerating older people grounds my teaching for older adults. It’s an attitude of respect, attention, patience and love that makes my teaching rewarding and hopefully of some service. Through the late 60’s when it was not hip to trust anyone over 30, I subtly discounted their exquisite value. Luckily, I soon learned to understand the wisdom and richness of the older generation while at the same time having the capacity to think for myself.

As a young boy, I came across older adults to be fascinating, somewhat mysterious and, when not playing sports or in school, I was happy in their company. When I was in grammar school, I visited older neighbors who didn’t appear to have younger people around them. 1 day I was walking past a reasonably run-down, large home where “Mrs. Davenport” was pruning some bushes in her yard. She lived alone, and seemed to be a recluse. She also had the trustworthiness of being truly a mean shrew, and instilled fear in the youngsters who sometimes played pranks on her. But with this particular occasion, she asked me if I would help her lift some trimmings into a wheelbarrow, that i did, while casting a suspicious eye on her, remembering a number of the children said she was a real witch.

Aside from her unsmiling wizened face, I came across nothing sinister about her. Her comments on plants, flowers, trees, squirrels, rabbits, muskrats, cats and dogs started to fascinate me. She never spoke about other people except saying that a group of “lousy boys” had thrown rocks at her dogs. After I finished, she invited me to enjoy freshly baked cookies. That began our friendship. I started visiting her, walking down the long driveway, knocking on her behalf door and gaining entrance into magical conversations about topics not used to me. I viewed her photo albums and inspected her “favorite contraptions.” Once I opened a painted music box, inlaid with white-spotted black and orange butterflies–I marveled as the box released a melody that brought such delight to Mrs. Davenport, her face noticeably softened.

Now I find myself revering my older students, as naturally, as happily as greeting my family when they come home from a trip. It’s a joy for me personally to be with older adults, learning and teaching. I am learning our brains are elastic, that people can “stretch” our minds just as we stretch our bodies, once we age. Neuroscientists call this ability of the brain to help keep itself fit, “brain plasticity.” The course I teach, through adult school, in convalescent hospitals is named “Mental Fitness.”

In classes with our venerable seniors, you can expect exercise (including simple Tai Chi), music and singing, arts-crafts, academics (history-geography; language arts; math life skills), puzzles, lively questions & answers about trivia, video documentaries & educational movies. We create an atmosphere where seniors can stay mentally active, at whatever level could be possible for as long as possible.

Different animals are brought into my class at the convalescent hospital-hospice. Needless to say a number of the clients don’t want to be close to any animal, yet many do and find it great fun and excitement, like having an instantaneous “buddy.” No judgments about being old. The furry ones make many clients feel relaxed, in so what can be an alienating, colorless environment. A 93 year old resident is happily getting together with the fat kitty cat; so energizing on her behalf. The animals brighten the classroom.

We discuss health and nutrition. We review studies-such as those by Dr. Andrew Weil-which recommend that seniors include plenty of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, such as blueberries. And to include anti-inflammation vitamin C (found in citrus fruits, beans, oatmeal, enriched pastas, peas, wheat germ, rice bran) and vitamin E (in spinach, sunflower seeds, whole grains, wheat germ); along with omega-3 fatty acids (in salmon, flax-seed oil, walnuts, supplements that provide these essential fatty acids). Dr. Weil cites studies from scientists at the University of Irvine (with mice) that show DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid) delays the development of protein “tangles” in brain cells and also reduces degrees of beta amyloid. (Cf. The Journal of Neuroscience, April 18, 2007)

Research suggests that doing such activities as educational “trivia”, learning a language or playing a drum can help build reserve brain cells to fight against failing mental ability. So we do plenty of trivia and word games, both oral and written. We encourage stimulating the imagination, forming mental pictures to associate with information, using the force of our attention and memory, still learning and “connecting,” and “re-connecting.”

Some convalescent homes and senior adult programs have computers, with such programs as “Posit Brain Fitness.” Computers provide effective exercises to sharpen the minds of older adults. I did a few of the sessions from the Brain Fitness Course from Posit Science where I and my fellow and sister seniors did different exercises to pay attention more attentively, to focus and concentrate, to boost our capability to process information also to remember progressively larger amounts of information. For instance, we distinguish varying sounds; we remember details from stories. We have been experiencing how our brains can change when we are paying attention, how we can improve the speed with which we process information and nudge our ability to communicate more effectively. I’ve done five different exercises: 1. “High or Low?” helps faster sound processing, so the brain can respond even to fast speech in conversation; 2. “REVEAL Apart” provides brain practice to distinguish similar sounds so it can better interpret the spoken word while storing clear memories; 3. “Match It!” helps the brain remember better, because the brain processes sounds with more clarity; 4. “Sound Replay” stimulates the mind to remember information in the order it’s presented; 5. “Listen and Do” exercises the short-term memory, which is critical generally in most cognitive tasks related to thinking.

“Dakim’s [m] Power” is another computer-based program which aids in slowing memory degeneration by “matching” and “word” games, answering questions. Multiple level activities are available: for “high functioning,” for “mild cognition impairment,” and for all those with “dementia.” Seniors may review history or geography or watch clips from old movies where they are asked to remember setting, characters, and actions. Some of the hospitals and senior centers utilize the involving world of the Internet to check up information of interest, e-mail and chat.

Sadly, many of our students already have problems with the brain-clogging plaque (amyloid) and protein tangles of advanced Alzheimer’s along with other dementia that greatly limit memory and cognition, and could manifest in behavioral abnormalities. But even Alzheimer’s doesn’t exclude meaningful educational and social interaction, even though it is on a basic level. We continue to reassure, interact, creatively stimulate, listen, be with, teach and learn from. We have some fun and laughter together, even in this drastic-terribly sorrowful-situation of a slow, progressive diminishing of mental capacity.

Our students are often confused, disoriented, incoherent, alienated, angry, withdrawn, in slowly deteriorating conditions. Their words don’t seem to express their thoughts. A few of our students appear “just out of it.” We are aware of changing needs and must adapt, be responsive and understanding. It’s messy sometimes; we accept everything. These students are losing nerve cells which are connected with learning, judgment, memory. The chemical acetylcholine-which is used by nerve cells to transmit messages-is decreasing dramatically.

One of my students greeted me every day saying with a perplexed look: “I can’t remember what I forgot to keep in mind to tell you.” Her daughter would visit her in class, but had to tell her every time that she was her daughter. She enjoyed likely to class, especially singing and humming old songs; playing catch with a soft ball; listening to stories. However, there have been times when she’d sit with a blank expression on her face. J. Madeleine Nash writes: “Imagine your brain as a house filled up with lights. Now imagine someone turning off the lights one at a time. That’ what Alzheimer’s disease does. It turns off the lights so the flow of ideas, emotions and memories from one room to another slows and finally ceases.” (Time magazine, July 17, 2000) Though we can not stop this process in our students, we do our far better accompany them, continuing to shine lights of caring on them.