In the United States, senior care has gone from being a community responsibility and part of everyday family life to a private industry. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, where people were quick to shrug off the risk of the virus once they knew it was most deadly to those aged 65 and over, the visibility of the elderly is more important than ever. Senior Year shows the lives that residents at an assisted living community in East Norriton, Pennsylvania led before the pandemic, and provides a framework to understanding how their lives are currently different.
Before the pandemic, residents at Brandywine Living at Senior Suites put their arms around each other’s shoulders as they walked down the hallways. They hugged and slow-danced with the activities directors during bowling matches and parties. They comforted one another, with hands grasped and foreheads kissed, when someone was upset or confused because of their dementia, aches and pains, or remembering a spouse who had died.
When Brandywine opened back up to masked and vaccinated visitors in February, I was struck by the cognitive decline in the residents I had gotten to know so well. Many residents with whom I had previously developed relationships were no longer sure who I was. One resident asked me, “Is this your first day here?” Another asked if I was somebody’s granddaughter.
While the loss the residents sustained due to the pandemic is indescribable, love and hope still exists at Brandywine. Pauline, at 95, is still the first person to get up and twirl around the room to music whenever she hears it. Mary, at 97, never misses an opportunity to flirt with the staff. After returning from a family vacation to the beach she said, with her signature sass, “this place was dead without me.”
"They take every moment for what it’s worth and live it to the fullest," Jessica Gonzalez, Brandywine’s executive director, has said. "I think that the younger generations — we’re the ones that are having a more difficult time adjusting to the post-pandemic world that we’re living in now, and we’re still fearful. They’re ready to go out and do things… and it’s pretty cool to see.”
Senior Year has been in-progress since 2011 and was recently completed with support from the National Geographic Society. It published on Buzzfeed News in November 2021.
