Memoir - Hamilton Aging in Community

Welcome to Memoir!

Written by Ellen Ryan [[email protected]]

Life review is one of the central tasks of resilient aging. Writing one’s memoir, or stories from one’s life, is a productive activity that can be carried out alone, in a group, or within the family.

Sharing life stories and family history serves future generations and enhances intergenerational communication.

Intergenerational Memoir Project

Intergenerational Memoir Project with McMaster University

Since 2020, Hamilton Aging in Community has paired senior volunteers with McMaster students majoring in Aging and Health. Each term about 15 pairs work together on the senior’s memoir project. Sometimes, the senior is collecting material written over the years. Sometimes, the senior is writing down life stories for the first time, often at the urging of loved ones.

Please contact me, Ellen Ryan, at [email protected] for additional information and to inquire about taking part in an upcoming semester.

PUBLICATION FROM THE Intergenerational Memoir Project, January, 2024

Our Intergenerational Memoir Project (Hamilton Aging in Community and McMaster University) is featured in a set of nine articles in the January 2024 issue of SAGEING, a Canadian online journal.

Our articles (edited by Ellen Ryan and Stephanie Wickens) appear on Pp 4-31. The Cover Image is from Steph’s 5 paintings of the life cycle of tulips.

MEMOIR FEST

Each year, we hold a Memoir Fest online to feature selections of memoirs produced within the Intergenerational Project. See these videos to experience the benefits of writing life stories, especially with a young partner on the way to working in the aging and health field.

Intergenerational Memoir Project Recruitment Flyer

Ellen Ryan Publications

Articles

Ryan, E. B., Crispin, D., & Daigneault, M. (2014). “In my own words”: Writing down life stories to promote conversation in dementia. In R. W. Schrauf & N. Mueller (Eds.), Dialogue and dementia: Cognitive and communicative resources for engagement (pp. 183-212). New York: Psychology Press.

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Ryan, E. B., & Schindel Martin, L. (2011). Using narrative arts to foster personhood in dementia (pp. 193-217). In P. Backhaus (Ed.), Communication in Elderly Care. London: Continuum Press. (Also in Communication in elderly care: Cross-cultural perspectives, reprinted in 2013 by London: Academic Bloomsbury Press).

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Ryan, E. B., Bannister, K. A., & Anas, A. P. (2009). The dementia narrative: Writing to reclaim social identity. Journal of Aging Studies, 23(3), 145-157.

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Ryan, E.B. (2006). Finding a new voice: Writing through health adversity. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 25, 423-436.

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Ryan, E. B., Pearce, K., Anas, A. P., & Norris, J. E. (2004). Writing a connection: Intergenerational communication through stories. In M. W. Pratt & B. E. Fiese (Eds.), Family stories and the lifecourse: Across time and generations (pp. 375-398). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

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Stories

Ryan, E. B., & Wickens, S. (Eds.) (2024). Intergenerational Memoir Project: Bridging the Gap. SAGE-ING with Creative Spirit, Grace & Gratitude: The Journal of Creative Aging, Issue 47, 4-31.

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Ryan, E. B. (2023). Writing my Way through Double Vision (with a little help from my dream). SAGE-ING with Creative Spirit, Grace & Gratitude, Issue 45, 21-24.

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Ryan, E. B. (2020). My Pilgrim Shadow: It’s All About the Light. SAGE-ING with Creative Spirit, Grace & Gratitude, Issue 33, 27-29

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Ryan E. B. (2016). Russian Summer (including two poems: Butter Butter; Prague Spring Ends in Odessa). SAGE-ing: The Journal of Creative Aging, Issue 21, 14-16.

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Ryan, E. B. (2015). The attic is bare but my heart is full. Hamilton Arts & Letters e-journal, 8.2.

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Ryan, Ellen B. (Ed.) 2007/ 2019). Light All Around Me: Poems by Naomi C. Wingfield, second edition. McMaster University.

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