When we are old, is it necessary for us to sit like potted plants in silent immobile rows, communicating nothing of what we have been, like empty people waiting for the end?
Retirement and rest homes await many of us, offering little means of expressing life's experiences or of taking a pride in having survived at all.
With Memory Boxes we would have 'something to show for it.' An answer to several needs. The opportunity to communicate in non-verbal ways that: 'I was here; I did this; I learnt that; I did and do exist and live.' It answers too the need for reassurance in visual terms, emphasising, stimulating and drawing attention (through memories) to the length of life experienced (rather than the shorter length still anticipated).
Language is no barrier (unlike oral history). Pride can be taken in a tangible expression of one's past.
The collecting and putting together of possible objects could take place in our homes, by a group of friends, or could be carried out in a day centre, as part of art therapy, where the camaraderie of others similarly involved, could stimulate and encourage those with less initial confidence.
The participants will be surprised and pleased with the results, which could be exhibited in local libraries, etc, as a way of generating more awareness and interest from others - particularly those of the same generation.
Yvonne Malik has made her own Memory Box as an example. Her address is: 145 Walker Street, Rhodes, near Middleton, Manchester M24 4QF (tel 061 643 1461). This scheme was highly commended in the Social Inventions Awards.