Listening from the Sidelines: The Telling and Retelling of Stories by Centenarians

Since long before Ponce de Leon's sixteenth-century search for the island of Bimini and the "Fountain of Youth," people have been fascinated by longevity. However, in the twenty-first century, longevity is not simply a fascination, it is for many a reality. Increased longevity is a result of improved health status that has been enhanced by the emergence of preventive medicine, advancements in medical technology, such discoveries as new forms of antibiotics, and a new emphasis on wellness. Individuals have begun to realize that life-style factors can influence whether they will have a healthier and longer life-of perhaps 100 years, or more. In 1900, life expectancy at birth in the United States was about forty-seven years; and if you lived to be age 65, you could have expected to live another twelve years (Quadagno, 2002). Until recently, living to 100 was considered a highly unusual event. However, recent U.S. Census data (2002) indicate that there are now more than 58,000 centenarians living in the United States, with a projected increase to 1,095,000 by the year 2050. Consequently, researchers and the general public alike are beginning to regard these oldest of the old as beacons guiding us to a new possibility of longer life-perhaps, "the age of centenarians. " Given the demographic shift toward longer life expectancy in the United States, and the increasing numbers of centenarians, I undertook a study to examine the stories of several members of this population to identify the narrative themes associated with their sagas. Fisher's narrative paradigm (1984, 1985a, 1985b) provided an appropriate method to evaluate these stories. MAKING SENSE OF EMERGENT THEMES A goal of narrative analysis is to increase our understanding of how meaning emerges and is used by people in a particular context. By focusing on interpretative analysis, we can discover how people create meanings through stories. Fisher (1984) proposes that reality is composed of sets of stories from which we must choose. Narratives contain key themes that display an individual's experiences and the person's values. Through stories we explain our actions and beliefs, and we lend meaning to our lives. The Homo narrans, or human storyteller, is a central figure in discourse and interaction. Through stories we are able to find order, purpose, and guidance in our experiences. Fisher suggests that we repeatedly test the fidelity of the stories to determine whether they are consistent with other stories or experiences we have known in our own lives. Thus, the question or criterion for evaluation consists of the assessment of the moral, or practical meaning, of the story. Does the moral that the narrative seeks to teach correspond to the moral character of the audience? From this perspective, social reality is composed of various stories from which people choose in a continual process based upon "good reasons," which may vary in form and according to context. Fisher (1989, p. 194) suggests that good reasons are those we perceive as "(1) True to and consistent with what we think we know and what we value, (2) appropriate to whatever decision is pending, (3) promising in effects for ourselves and others, and (4) consistent with what we believe is an ideal basis for conduct. " NARRATIVE THEME 1: THE GOOD OLD DAYS The following narratives are connected to an overarching theme embedded within many of the stories told by the centenarians-that despite difficult times when they were young, the centenarians still reflect on the best of times and the simplicity of their youth. For example, Ella Miller, who was 117 years old at the time of her interview with Neenah Ellis, recalled the simple joys of drinking fresh spring water: My mother raised the family. She had to work hard in order to feed the children and raise them up. She always taught them the nice things in life. We had to go to the bottom of the hill to get water to drink out of the spring. …