[The current posts are written by students in Memory, Aging & Expressive Arts.  Partnering with U-M Geriatric Centers, Mild Memory Loss, Silver Club Programs, students have been paired with community members to create together.]

Reflecting on my conversations with my member over the last few weeks, the most wonderful memories I have are of our shared stories about our lives. Simply hearing stories from his life about travel, work, and his family taught me innumerable life lessons.  It was exciting to exchange stories about the places we have travelled and share stories about our accomplishments and goals. I hadn’t imagined it would be possible to form such a strong bond with someone who is fifty years my senior, but we created a wonderful friendship. I never had the opportunity to get to know either of my grandfathers, and this semester with my member allowed me to create a type of relationship I never had before this class.  What has resonated with me from this class are the many joys that can come from just sharing stories from our lives with other. They have the ability to teach, heal, entertain, and calm. Memory, Aging, and Expressive Arts is a course that rests on and revolves around the notion of sharing. Every lecturer who visited our class was there to share their knowledge with us about memory loss. Everyone was open to sharing personal stories and encouraged us to ask questions and to learn more. All of the members were open to sharing with us. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this amazing experience, and I hope to share everything I have learned with the people around me.

~Isabel, UM Stamps Art & Design Student