Seniors Collect Milestones In Keepsake Books

Lida Allegrini remembers going to the Trianon Ballroom on Chicago’s south side with her girlfriend, and watching Charlie Chaplin films at the cinema every Thursday for a nickel.

“Many movies were very funny,” Allegrini said. “We used to all go there in a group and just laugh our fool heads off. When I look back on that, it was a lot of fun.”

The catalyst for Allegrini’s recent recollections is a new program at The Heritage of Des Plaines, a senior living center, where residents create full-color memory books.

Each My Life Moments Keepsake Book contained eight photographs with descriptions, and lists of lifetime milestones and special memories. Allegrini and 15 other residents completed books over the last three months, and shared them with family and friends at a publication party Monday.

Allegrini said the biggest event in her life was when she became a grandmother.

“I had given up hope,” Allegrini said. “I had my first grandchild at the age of 84. I was shocked when they told me they were going to have a family. But here I am; I’m a grandmother, and I love every minute of it.”

Employees from Connected Living, a company that helps seniors use computers and the Internet, ran the My Life Moments Keepsake Book program. Residents at all nine of the Brookdale senior living facilities in the Chicago area are participating, said Lynne Cook, ambassador for Connected Living assigned to The Heritage of Des Plaines location.

Cook meets with about 30 Heritage residents twice a week to teach them how to benefit from, and enjoy, a variety of computer functions including emailing, creating photo albums and doing searches. She said the memory book project was a huge undertaking, but they received excellent responses from participants, and they plan to continue offering it to all residents.

Cook, whose mother also lives at Heritage, said the memory book program was valuable for a number of reasons. It was a great way for family members to share history and stories, it made visiting family members feel good to see their loved ones participating in an activity and it gave residents an opportunity to learn more about each other.

“I think the socialization that is created in these communities is a positive thing for seniors,” Cook said.

Lois Priester presented her My Life Moments Keepsake Book to family members at the publication party. Priester said she’s the oldest of the generation and she’s trying to share family history with her children so it doesn’t get lost.

Priester included a photograph in her book of herself when she first moved to Des Plaines in 1930. She also chose her wedding photograph, some anniversary pictures and a collection of travel pictures. Priester has plans to create a more extensive family history book with her granddaughter sometime this year.

“There’s nothing like nice family and happy memories,” Priester said.

Participation in the My Life Moments Keepsake Book program and other programs was key, Cook said. She encouraged Heritage residents that attended the publication party, but hadn’t yet created memory books, to do so.

“It’s focusing [residents] on the positive, what they can do, not what they can’t,” Cook said.