Human Development: Older Adulthood Essay

In considering the living experience of an former(a) person, it is essential to know active the developmental stages of human beings. Eriksons theories of development give a computable global overview of the various developmental challenges and breakthroughs which people pee throughout their lives, from introduction until natural death. Older adulthood is a time when people are confronted with having a consciousness of generativity or feeling a sense of despair.The aged(prenominal)er adult who is accomplished and is able to look back on life knowing that unrivalled devoted oneself to skilful causes has generally a redeeming(prenominal) feeling of generativity, while the ripened person who has a sense of bereavement in regard to ones life endeavors, shame in regard to not having contributed enough, is often left despairing. At this point in life, in the later years of a persons development, it is unspoiled as common to find people who are satisfied with their long c ontribution as it is to find people who are dissatisfied with what they have for others.In speaking with Margie, it is clear that she is not sure if she has done the best(p) for her children, because she is alone in an back up living community without m whatsoever visit relatives. Margie is an 82 year old woman who lives in an urban assisted living apartment building. Although she has met some friends in the community and enjoys the indoor tend and parakeets as well as the weekly Catholic Mass storeyed by a local priest, she is saddened by the lack of visitors she receives.A teeny-weeny woman with dark grey and black hair and hunched shoulders, Margie moves close to the building slowly and with a seemingly idle or nondirected stride. She pauses often to look around the room, as if searching for something. She says that out of her five children, precisely two of them come to visit regularly, and that is about once a month. I conduct her if she feels deserted or ignored, and s he says yes. In considering her relationships with her children, she often wonders if she was too scatty with them, if she didnt care about them the right way.I understand that she thinks that if she had organise better relationships with her children, thus they would be closer to her now. I can sense this painful feeling sharply in her presence, and I cannot do or say anything to counter her feeling. Perhaps shes right. I allow Margie to clack about her family members, her husband, siblings, and especially her children. She takes photographs from her room and points to her grandchildren, lovely people, I say. In ask Margie how she feels being an older person, she says that its ok. She doesnt feel as good as she used to feel.Shes tired. I get the sense that in that location is an overarching umbrella of depression which covers her and follows her everywhere. I ask Margie if theres anything hostel should change about how it deal with older people, and she says that society sho uldnt give about them. She has the sense that her children have forgotten her, and she wonders if the mothering care she provided for them as children wasnt enough to keep them devoted to her needs as she ages. At one point, tears roll down Margies face. What can I do, an old lady, to make my children love me more?I just dont know. In speaking with Margie, I have to wonder if its real her fault. Could it be the fault of her children? Did they change, get swept up in capitalism, forget their duty to care for their older parents? Shes too upset to ask her these questions. I ask her if shes like to take a saunter through the garden together, and we do. Older aged people need as much or even more care as any other individuals. It makes sense for the younger generation to remember the needs of their parents and older relatives, to help them and to provide them with care.However, it is also important for people in general to recognize that if they want their children to be around for them in their later years, then parents and need to form strong relationships with their children, honorable and respectful relationships which can turn back them throughout the span of time. Generativity in later years is marked by security in personal relationships. The successful and happy older individuals are the one who are now reaping the benefits of what they have planted. As Margie says, The birds all scramble together in that one tree, and theyre happy.