She’s never gotten very emotional when reminiscing about the people we talked about for this project, but her oldest daughter is always a touchy subject. I saved talking about her for last because it did distract both of us. She followed in her mom's footsteps, marrying a military man and being a housewife with kids. I remember her mom, my great-grandma, and that was honestly one of the very few times I’ve heard my grandma bring her up since she passed.

I didn’t expect her to speak so poorly of her second-born daughter, Jennifer, so I chose not to include that in the Padlet. Jennifer has never had a huge role in the family or significant involvement with any of us, so I was not surprised that my grandma responded this way.

While we were face-to-face, it was difficult because there were other family members around us. However, they also had more stories and information to contribute, which helped my grandma share more as they bounced ideas and memories around. She’s not hard of hearing and sees perfectly fine, but I still made sure to face her appropriately at the kitchen table. We sat down and talked face to face for a bit before moving into the living room with some of the people mentioned in the project.

These strategies align with therapeutic communication skills from our readings, such as establishing rapport through presence and nonverbal attentiveness, as well as using silence and patience to encourage deeper sharing. These methods created a more open environment where she felt comfortable talking about selective parts of her life.

While this experience reminded me to be conscious of other people and their lives, my grandma, her interviews, and all my experiences with her have never resembled the adjectives I used at the beginning of this project. I fear the day any negative context falls upon her.

There are stories and lessons to be heard from other people, and they have either been in my shoes or I could be in theirs one day. That goes for any patient I may encounter, of any age or group. It never hurts to be mindful or to think of others.