Alma 91 years
Oma- tai vuokra-asunto, Uusimaa
Description of daily life
I live quite a normal daily life: I do the morning chores, make porridge and do other light housework. I listen to the television and the radio. I always have the radio on. Now that I can't read anymore, listening is important, and I listen to audiobooks. I live by myself, so I start my day with normal chores.
I cook my own meals. I have my mid-morning coffee, of course, and a light lunch. Then I cook myself dinner around four or five in the afternoon. At times someone calls in for afternoon coffee, but not very often. Especially during the pandemic I was by myself.
I also go and walk around the yard. Getting out is a bit difficult in winter, with snow and ice on the ground, and my yard is on quite a steep hill. That's the big difference between winter and summer. In summer, I spend more time outdoors – I sit in the garden swing and walk. Winter is more difficult, I have to spend more time indoors.
Whatever else there is to do. I wash my clothes in the machine, and I can manage having a shower and getting dressed myself and all that for the time being. I had an operation recently, so we’ll see what I will be like from now on. Everyone, including doctors and everyone else, say that I am quite fit for my age.
Daily life of my own choosing
I’ve had to give up many things, of course, because I cannot read. In the past I spent a lot of time reading magazines and books, and I even used a computer for a long time. Now I have only been using a tablet to listen to audiobooks, and I also take photographs with it. It’s a great device because you can zoom in.
I observe life in nature, there are deer and squirrels here, and also a lake below the house. It’s frozen in winter, of course, but in summer it’s always different. The landscape is very important for me, because this is where I grew up.
Housing
I live alone in a single-family house by a lake. It has 200 square metres – it is getting a bit too big. I own the house. This has been my home for ten years. When my husband was still alive, we had lived in the house beside it since 1972. This is my home place and the area I grew up in.
Housing comfort
Above all, it’s because this site was part of my family’s farm, and these are my childhood landscapes. I will keep living at home as long as I’m able to.
Service use
Of service that are offered at home, I only use a cleaning service. A cleaner comes every two weeks. My children do the shopping for me. They look after all that. Sometimes I go with them, too, but I no longer go by myself, because I have given up driving. I kept driving until I was 87, but then I lost my sight.
My daughter takes care of the banking for me, because she has an accounting firm. She has been doing that for years now. And my son also deals with the banking for me.
I do sometimes visit the pharmacy with my daughter or son, but they usually do these jobs.
The services are not very near. I live in a sparsely populated area, which is why you always have to drive out specifically to reach them. The distance from my home to the services is around four kilometres.
Mobility
Outside I don't go too far from the house because there's a busy road there. Although they are now building a path for pedestrians and cyclists. As a matter of fact, I mostly walk along the small road that leads to my house.
Of course, I walk around the yard and on the lakeshore. It's quite steep here, but I have steps leading down to the shore. I walk around my own place, and I have relatives nearby, so I can walk out to visit them. When I use services, my children drive me there. I do not usually use a taxi, only on a rare occasion.
Important people
The people who are important to me are my children and grandchildren. We keep in touch almost daily, or not quite every day, it depends on what we need to talk about. We call each other on the phone. The neighbours are my relatives, as the sites on which I and my siblings built our houses were side by side.
I have gone to an exercise group. I have been going to it for at least five or six years. It’s on 15 times in spring and 15 times in autumn. But there has been small breaks every now and then because of the pandemic. It’s such a small group, there are only five or six of us and two leaders. I have really enjoyed it.
Turning points of life
The death of my youngest daughter was the greatest turning point. And losing all my siblings, because I come from a large family. And when my husband passed away. I’m actually the only old person of my generation left, and that makes me feel lonely.
The births of my children were of course turning points. I'm already a great-granny, so there are several generations in our family.
Digital devices
I am still using a tablet. I used to have a laptop, but I can’t really see well enough to do anything with it. I use the tablet to listen to audiobooks, and sometimes I take photographs and save them, and at times I try to read a tabloid or something. It’s a pity that I can’t really read other newspapers.
I think using the tablet involves quite a number of little difficulties, but my grandson often helps me with it and gets everything sorted again. What makes it difficult is that everything is so small and hard to see. And somehow, even if you have once known how to use a computer, you forget it if you don’t use one for a while. So it’s not always very easy.
I do not use a smartphone, it would be difficult for me because I have little or no feeling on the tips of my fingers. On this right hand, and I am right-handed. And my children keep asking why I don’t really like the phone designed for older people, either. It’s so difficult for me because my sight is poor. Still, I have continued using it. The television is on, and even though I can't read the subtitles anymore, I still watch and listen to some programmes. I have the radio on from morning till night.
Possibilities of technology
I sometimes think that if those young engineers could also consider the older people who use these devices, it would be better. But I can’t say exactly how. That they would take us into consideration.
Summary of good everyday life and housing
My home is really important, and living at home. I would not like to give up this landscape. It’s always there, as soon as I wake up in the morning, it’s so diverse. It means a lot to me. I grew up on the shores of this lake. The landscape of my childhood is very important.
Having relatives around me is also an important thing.
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