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| With Elaine, at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC, 2013 |
Short introduction: For a long time, Elaine was for me one of those people that didn't 'really' exist. Author of "Civilizing the museum", she had deeply influenced my thinking and practice, especially by coining the term "the museum 'and'". But she wasn't someone I could hope to actually meet, someday, somewhere. When in 2013 I found the courage to write to her, Elaine came to find me. And this says a lot about who she is. We´ve kept in touch since, occasionally, mainly through her letters to her pals. Last week, we got one more. It was a privilege starting my day by reading that letter. It was one more confirmation of how extraordinary she is a person. She generously allowed me to share it on my blog. Thank you, Elaine, for this and for so much more.
Diminishment
August 2024
Dear Pals,
I have not written in a while. More precisely, I have not sent a letter to my pals in a long time because I have written some that I rejected and did not send. But here I am again, now an 86-year-old female, hoping that my elderly experience might yield some ideas of generalized interest. I ruminate about the inevitable diminishment facing us all.
We (elders) have mostly gone into each day (unless we were sick or had an accident) with the expectation that we had the same capacity as the day before. However, we sometimes find these expectations wrong-headed, and we are surprised by our inability. Now and then, we can compensate for what is lost, but frequently, it is gone, and our calculus must be readjusted.
