CHAPTER OUTLINE

Theories of Late Adulthood

Self Theories

A VIEW FROM SCIENCE: No Regrets

Stratification Theories

Activities in Late Adulthood

Paid Work

Home Sweet Home

Religious Involvement

Political Activism

Friends and Relatives

Long-Term Partnerships

Relationships with Younger Generations

Friendship

OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES: Social Networking, for Good or Ill

The Frail Elderly

Activities of Daily Life

Caring for the Frail Elderly

WHAT WILL YOU KNOW?

• Do older people become more depressed as time goes by?
• Do the elderly hope to move to a distant, warm place?
• What do adult children owe their elderly parents?
• Is home care better than nursing home care?

My parents grew up together in the same small town in Taiwan. Shortly after they married, they immigrated to Canada. My father is a family physician. To be accredited in Canada, he completed his residency in Ottawa, where my two older brothers were born, and another year in New Brunswick, where I was born. The family moved a couple more times before settling just outside Toronto, and it was there that my younger brother was born. Thus, my parents had four children in their first five years in Canada.

With four young children, my parents finally settled down, and my father opened up a family practice where he continues to work. They had been living in the same house for almost 40 years and were happily married for almost 49 years, until my mother unexpectedly passed away in November 2013. But like any couple, they had their ups and downs. My father has always used his sense of humour to keep peace in the household. Once he got my mother to laugh, she couldn’t stay upset for very long; luckily it was easy to make her laugh.

My mother had her own sense of humour. “Your father is the head of the household,” she told my brothers and me once. We just laughed—we couldn’t believe she said that with a straight face.

Then she said, “But I am the neck that turns him.”

As they grew older, my parents spent most of their time together. Their roles and responsibilities in the family changed over time, especially for my mother. She was a stay-at-home mom until all of us were in middle school, and then she enjoyed a successful career as a real estate agent. At the same time, she continued to study theology, became an ordained minister, and volunteered as a pastor for various churches over the years.

After my mother retired, my father continued to work, although the hours were fewer than before. Together they enjoyed more relaxing moments, reminiscing about their childhoods and their lives with one another, and spending time with the family, including grandchildren. My father has also spent more time reading, updating his knowledge on medical issues, learning Hebrew, and studying the Bible.