Lesson 1- Adult Memories

In the last module we started to look at your Adult Memories with a focus on Marriage and Children. In this module we are going to expand on Adult Memories by exploring your home and family life, your work or career, what you did in your leisure time and, if you are an empty nester, looking at your transition into this stage of your life. You may find some of the topics covered in this lesson are the same as topics covered in your Childhood Memories and your Young Adult Memories. This is an opportunity for you to expand on these topics or compare your adult life to your childhood life. What carried over into your adult life- traditions, friendships, interests?

Adult memories cover the period from marriage/mid-20’s right through to current day. This is a big span of time to cover so we are going to break it up into subgroups-
 
Home and Family- In the last module you introduced your first home. In this module you may want to expand and write about how your home has changed over the years; or if you have moved one or more times make mention of where you moved to and how your next home differed from the previous. We also previously introduced your spouse and children. Expand now on what day to day life was like for your family. How was your relationship with your spouse and children? Write about special family times such as outings, holidays and special occasions. Have you carried on traditions or carved a new path?

You might want to go back to the family photos to help jog some of your family time memories.

At this stage we want to bring back your parents and siblings for an update on your relationship with them and with your extended family. Are they still very much a part of your life or have you drifted apart, live apart? How is your relationship with your spouse's family?

Second marriages may be appropriate to mention here.

 

Work- Back in your Young Adult Memories we talked about your first job. Now we want to look at your career path. Did you stay with the same company all your working life? What new positions did you have, how did the workplace change over the years, how did working conditions change over the years? If you changed roles, companies or your career path, take us along this journey.
 
If you are a woman, what happened when you had children? Did you return to work? Did you change your career? What was it like for you as a mother and an employee?
 
When did you retire? How did you feel about this?
 

Recreation- What did you like to do in your leisure time in your adult years? What did you do for entertainment? Feel free to get nostalgic here and mention some of your favourite TV shows, music, movies, books etc. Has your taste changed over the years? What do these say about your personality?  

What sort of hobbies and interests did you have during this time? Did you play a sport? Were you part of an organisation? What were you passionate about?
 
Write about the special friendships you had. What was the commonality that bonded you in friendship? Which friendships have carried over from your childhood?
 
As you write about your adult years, look back at what you wrote about in both your Childhood and Young Adult stages of your life. What is the same, what is different?
 

Empty Nester- If you have reached this stage in life start by writing about how this came about. When did your children move out? Did they get married? If so tell us a little about how they met their spouse and when they got married. How did you feel about them leaving home? How has your relationship changed?

Do you have grandchildren? How did you feel about becoming a grandparent for the first time? Introduce your grandchildren. How is your relationship with them?
 
We talked about when you retired in the ‘Work’ sub-section. What happened next? How did you adjust to retirement? You might want to revisit your hobbies and interests here. Did you join any new groups or organisations?
 
Did you downsize your home? If so where did you move to? What was your new accommodation like? Why did you move to that area?
 
With the children off your hands the opportunity arises to travel. Did you travel? Where did you go? Who did you travel with? What special memories do you have of these times?

Note- some aspects of 'Home and Family' and 'Recreation' might be more appropriate in the ‘Empty Nester’ stage.

This is another big Module. Take some time to complete this. Dot points and short answers to start with.