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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
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| Old Friends |
Sean Cáirde—Old
Friends. It’s a beautiful concept. Don't we all have a dear friend we've known since forever with whom we can be ourselves? Someone who makes us laugh, listens to our troubles without judging, holds us when we need to cry. Someone so familiar, looking at them is almost like looking in a mirror.
As we grow older, our friends grow old with us. And sometimes they don't. Sometimes they have to leave this world before us, and that can be heartbreaking. So getting older can make the prospect of being alone more and more difficult to bear. It means sometimes new friends become old friends. Like at the Sean Cáirde meetings every Friday in the Parish Hall in Headford.
Every so often, the group goes on outings together. Several of the members tell me about one of their more recent outings to market day in Moycullen, followed by dinner at the Forge restaurant. 'The outings get better every year,' someone says, 'and you're not too long sitting on the bus.'
On the subject of buses, there is a shuttle service available that can pick participants up at their home and bring them back. 'It takes me all the way to my door,' Kathleen says. 'When you don't drive, that means an awful lot.'
The Nun Study, one of the most innovative experiments to answer questions about aging, proves that the participants of Sean Cáirde are ticking all the right boxes. Living well and aging smart.
'This gets me out of the house,' says Anne who's been coming to this group for eleven years. 'I like to come and have a chat and a cuppa.' When I ask her what she likes best about the group, she says, 'Art. I like it when we do art projects.'
'Yes,' someone else agrees, 'We're always doing something. Something different.' On Valentines Day, they were making heart-shaped pin cushions, laughing and chatting as they worked.
'The exercise is good,' another member adds. 'The yoga. I like that.'
It seems every member likes something different about Sean Cáirde.
'Lunch!' Breedge says. 'Lunch is my favourite part.'
Kathleen says, 'We can discuss our problems in good company and we all become close friends.'
'Yeh. It's a great place to make friends,' someone else agrees. 'I knew people’s faces, in passing, you know, but now I know
them to talk to.'
According to the famous Nun Study conducted by Dr. David A. Snowdon, an epidemiologist at the University of Kentucky who studied 678 aging nuns, the best way to grow older is to keep active, not just physically, but mentally and socially too. And that's exactly what the participants of Sean Cáirde are doing each week when they meet for social time, the share a hot lunch, learn new skills, listen to music, dance, and share good times.
Every so often, the group goes on outings together. Several of the members tell me about one of their more recent outings to market day in Moycullen, followed by dinner at the Forge restaurant. 'The outings get better every year,' someone says, 'and you're not too long sitting on the bus.'
On the subject of buses, there is a shuttle service available that can pick participants up at their home and bring them back. 'It takes me all the way to my door,' Kathleen says. 'When you don't drive, that means an awful lot.'
If you'd like to know more about the famous Nun's Study, watch this:
