November 27, 2024 • 32 mins
On this episode of Backyard Oasis, Dennis Lee talks with guest Linda Desmond about her journey toward becoming a passionate advocate for seniors.
Do you have questions, comments or thoughts about this episode? We'd like to hear from you. Email us at backyardoasispodcast@gmail.com
Please like, subscribe, and give the show a five-star review wherever possible – it's the easiest and best way for you to support our work and help us reach the most people worldwide!
Hosted by Dennis Lee
Produced by Alex Audette in the Teaching and Learning Innovation Center's Multimedia Studios at Greenfield Community College
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to Backyard Oasis, a podcast designed by and for older adults living in the beautiful
(00:09):
Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts and produced in the tech studios at Greenfield
Community College in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Backyard Oasis reaches out to older adults who seek knowledge to help them live more
thoughtfully, healthfully and happily, who hope to inspire others with their ideas and
(00:31):
who serve their communities in the interest of the greater good.
Hi, this is Dennis Lee.
Welcome to the Backyard Oasis podcast.
We talk to interesting people that have had some wonderful experiences.
(00:55):
I've got somebody to talk to today that's had wonderful experiences.
That's why we said she should come here.
I asked our guest, Linda Desmond, for some background information.
She has sent me enough for the old show, This Is Your Life.
I thought she was going to send me like a little paragraph or something and I got this
missile with everything and I thought it was great.
(01:17):
It was wonderful stuff.
Linda, I know you went to school for a phys ed degree.
I was shocked by that.
I've never thought about you in phys ed.
I just never came in my brain because I've known you in your later roles.
But that's really an interesting story.
Welcome first of all.
(01:38):
Thank you.
Nice to have you here.
But tell us about that.
You wanted to get into phys ed, be a phys ed teacher.
Was that the deal?
Yeah, I shared a little bit about my history of having dyslexia and learning was more of
a challenge for me.
But the one thing that wasn't challenging is sports.
(01:58):
I was very, very good in sports.
And it just seemed so appropriate that that would be my next step.
Because it was the one place that I really felt that I was very competent in.
And then you got into an accident, a car accident, I guess, right?
And that must have been a physical situation so you couldn't continue.
(02:19):
So you had to make other plans that that's really kind of amazing in life is you never
know which way you're going to go and how you're going to end up in backyard oasis podcast.
We talk about transitions a lot of times and how people start one way, but they end up
somewhere else.
And you are really the perfect example of that of people that I know from phys ed to what
(02:43):
you've gone on to do.
It's really amazing.
So you came back to Northampton.
This cracked me up.
I laughed.
You sold shoes.
I did.
I did.
I sold shoes at David's Boot Shop.
And you worked for the phone company.
Yeah, that was a step up, actually.
All right.
(03:04):
Yeah.
Well, but then things changed.
You ended up working with seniors.
So I guess the question I've got to ask is what happened?
How do you go from shoes, the telephone company to seniors?
I know seniors were shoes, but that's not the connection, I think.
It was transition time for me.
(03:26):
You know, life happens.
I have two children and I also got a divorce.
And what I said to myself by mantra is I will never be dependent on another human being
again.
And that motivated me to start going back to school.
Which is an amazing story.
(03:48):
I think in notes you sent me, the email, you said you had an aha moment deciding to work
with seniors.
Tell us about that.
When was that?
About what year, roughly?
Oh, David, I know you're going to say.
Don't ask me about years.
They all kind of blend in together.
Skip the year.
(04:09):
Anyway, you ended up at community college.
They know that, which was a big deal for you.
But I mean, when did that thing about the seniors, what made that aha moment?
Well, I left the phone company and to get another job working with older people at the
Walter Salvo House.
In Northampton.
Yeah, it was a nutrition program.
(04:30):
It was part time.
It really worked.
I had two children.
It really worked into my lifestyle.
And I was really good at it.
Maybe 150 people used to come there on a daily basis to have lunch.
And I had to coordinate the lunch program through Highland Valley Elder Services.
Now what was it, though, about working with seniors that made you think, well, this is
(04:53):
for me.
I mean, you probably don't remember one example, but it was just how you felt when you worked
with people.
What was it about working with seniors?
Well, I guess I've always known I care about people.
I really care about people.
And as I started working there, I was doing some very good problem solving.
(05:15):
I didn't have a formal education at that time, but I had good problem solving skills.
And I really cared.
So that and this was the venue that I started to learn how good and I was at all of those
skill levels to do to work with human beings and people.
(05:36):
Right.
And that is a real skill.
Not everybody can do that.
That's very special, especially when you're dealing with different personalities.
And if you're dealing with seniors, they have their own set of problems.
Everybody in any age group, but they have some special ones that you have to deal with.
And obviously you said, did you actually say aha?
(05:57):
Because in your email, you said I had an aha moment.
Did you go aha?
It was my aha moment.
You know?
I knew I didn't want to self-choose anymore.
I knew that working in the phone company as an engineering clerk wasn't my life ambition.
And I was looking for that path.
And this was the path.
(06:19):
I want to talk a little bit, because you mentioned quickly about dyslexia.
In case people don't know, they know the term.
Give us an idea of how dyslexia affected your life and how you had to make changes because
of that.
Well, you don't feel like you have intelligence, because reading is very difficult.
(06:42):
And if you're in first or second grade, and reading is your whole curriculum, and you
struggle through that, and then you watch other people reading and just enjoying reading
and being so adequate with it.
So it made me feel that I didn't have any intellectual abilities.
(07:07):
And then you decided to go to college, Hoyo Community College?
Hoyo Community College, right.
So that was really life-changing as you described it to me.
Oh, it was.
I ended up getting A-pluses.
It just blew my mind that I had so much ability.
(07:27):
Since then, I've read some books about dyslexia.
And you know that maybe your skill level isn't the same as a person without dyslexia in reading
or test taking and things.
But you have other skills.
The one book I'm thinking about is dyslexia with advantages.
(07:49):
And what you can do is I can organize.
And that's what happened.
It was Hoyo Community College that your number one, you're with a lot of peers with similar
backgrounds.
Number two, it was very affordable.
And number three, your professors took an individual caring for you that a larger university
(08:14):
wouldn't have had.
And that was really necessary for me at that time.
Did you have one professor that stood out?
I don't need his name, but was there somebody that said, wow, I'm really going to help you
or a latch-dont or help you learn even more?
No.
They were all equally, they became mentors.
(08:36):
And it was just an excellent experience.
It was definitely the step that I needed to take at that time.
Wow.
Well, it's amazing to hear that story.
Once again, I'm thinking you went to college and you wanted to be in the gym and you left
the gym and you ended up in Hoyo.
And it was a good thing, right?
It was.
That's amazing.
So you worked at Highland Valley Elder Services and then you ended up going to UMass Amherst.
(09:02):
And I think you would call it a life-changing experience.
Tell us about that.
Well, this was really a funny experience.
A friend of mine who I worked with professionally at Highland Valley was given a professor position
at UMass.
And he said, so Linda, if you apply full-time at UMass, I'll get you through.
(09:25):
And he had been a priest in Ireland and he left the priesthood to start working within
the social service network.
And so I did.
So I ended up having two children working full-time and going to school full-time.
(09:46):
And it was really a challenge, but it was so rewarding.
Now you talked about somewhere I saw you, talked about leadership skills.
You read a book that made a big impression on you.
And I want to talk a little bit about that because I think it's really an incredible
ability when somebody has skills and leadership skills.
(10:08):
Not everybody can do it.
Everybody can say to their boss, oh, they should do this or do that.
But when you're the person, that's the boss, that's a real talent for the really good boss.
Anybody can say I'm a boss, but then are you a good boss, whatever that means in certain
situations.
Tell us a little bit.
You mentioned, what did you say?
(10:28):
Did I read the one-minute manager or something like that?
What was that book?
You read and you said that had a big impression on you.
Right.
Well, this was the 90s.
Now it's all coming back to me some of the time, the dates.
And you masked, they really taught.
They opened up the learning experience.
(10:50):
And if you were an undergraduate, you could take master's courses if your professor agreed.
So I knocked on the door of one of the professors and I asked if I could take her class.
And she said, no, you need an undergraduate degree.
So I mean, I just imagined the life working full-time, three children, two children at
(11:13):
that time.
So I went to my friend who was working in administration.
And that's what you really needed to do if you were a nontraditional student, get needed
to know the administrators of the colleges.
It's always who you know.
We hate to think that way, but let's be honest.
(11:34):
It helps to know somebody to maybe nudge you to getting your foot in the door.
So I went into her office and I started crying because it was just so hard.
It was beginning to be so hard to stand in line, get classes, run to work, just the whole
(11:55):
bit.
And so she said, how would you like to take a graduate course called situational leadership
by this professor called Ken Blanchard?
He just wrote, one minute manager, it's on the New York Times bestseller list.
And so I said, oh my god, that would be phenomenal.
(12:16):
But this was the best part.
It was two weekends at Okemoski area for three credits.
And it sounds like it was really fluffy, but it was really hard work and it was so rewarding.
So she picked up the phone called Ken Blanchard in California and she said, would you open
your class to this undergraduate who, and his comment was, well, can she do it?
(12:41):
And she in her comment was, she more than can do it.
So I got into that class and it was wonderful.
Now you mentioned that with these leadership skills that really opened the door and you've
used a lot of those ideas.
Can we talk a little bit about leadership skills?
I think that's a whole, probably a whole podcast unto itself, but I think it's really
(13:03):
fascinating.
Well, his concept was based on personality and so that if you have a certain personality,
this would be the leadership skill you would follow.
And what was interesting is that almost every course I took following that, they always brought
(13:25):
up his theory on leadership skills.
And so everyone, it's person centered.
Everyone doesn't always have the same leadership skills, but personality is a main factor.
And it just worked.
It really did.
And so that was a really important part of your life.
(13:46):
Oh, big time.
And you still use some of those ideas when you were doing other things.
And I know you also in Northampton, you ran the senior center for a year or so and you
were very popular.
People liked you.
When you left, people were walking around depressed.
I know that for a fact.
(14:07):
I say that because I was doing some photography for the senior center at the time.
Matter of fact, I think you got me into that now that I think of it.
But when you left, people were sad because you are, I hate to phrase your people for
a person because everybody, what does that mean?
But in your case, I think it's true.
People know that when you walk up to somebody and you ask and you talk to them and you say,
(14:32):
how are you, you're not doing that because somebody said you should say, how are you,
you're doing that because you really care.
And that's pretty darn important for people to feel that way.
So what was that experience like, by the way, running a senior center?
We'll get back to some of the other things.
What was that like?
I knew this was going to be my last professional job before retirement.
(14:55):
And it was, it was perfect.
I had been on their board for 17 years before that.
And you know, I've had, before I became the director, I had 50 years experience working
with older people.
So it was kind of a piece of cake.
And I really loved introducing a lot of the skills of a lifetime into that position.
(15:18):
And I did.
I did very well.
I can attest to that.
You didn't tell me to say that.
It's just true.
I'm sorry.
I got to speak the truth.
There's a polyglour.
Our engineer, Alex, has a polygraph over there.
So if I say something in the pod podcast, that's weird.
He's alarms go off and lights and everything else.
So that's just true.
Anyway, let's talk a little bit.
I know you ended up going to Yukon, which is quite a ways from Holyoke Community College,
(15:45):
ended up with a certificate in gerontology, which is.
And an MSW, an MSW that.
So that's a heck of an achievement for somebody who was having a hard time reading.
Yep.
Well, by then, by then I could read and I read effectively, you know, but it took, it
took a long time to get the confidence.
(16:05):
That's the whole thing.
That's what you need is the confidence.
And and Yukon was a little bit more in the box than UMass.
UMass had a little bit more, you had more freedom and a little bit more, you know, I
don't know, but, you know, it was, it was good and it was necessary, but they did give
(16:26):
you the ability to work, to go to school during the weekends.
And that's again, what I needed because I had my third child at that time.
So I, I, and I had, I was working at Hampshire Community Action Commission and I asked my
boss Tim Deal, could I take Fridays off, work longer hours, Monday through Thursday.
(16:49):
And so that was how I ended up getting my MSW in a timely manner.
Talk about making transitions.
I mean, this is what this whole thing really is about.
We talk about, you've made so many transitions way back from his head to what we're talking
about now.
And there's another transition.
(17:09):
I love this.
Then it became a city counselor.
Now there's got to be something to get into politics.
I don't want to talk politics, you know, these days.
I don't want to do that.
But to become, to become a city counselor, that's got to be a whole different experience.
That's not, that's different than dealing with a senior that's got a problem making
(17:29):
some conversation.
What on earth possessed you to get to be a city counselor?
Well, I was motivated again by a professor at UConn.
And this person basically said, you know, if you're going, she made the statement to
the whole class that if you are going to be social workers, then you have to also become
(17:54):
politically active.
And because you've got to represent the population from a social work perspective, which is different
than if you were coming from a business background.
And it was just so happened that just exactly when I've got my degree, my MSW, and my graduate
(18:17):
certification in gerontology, we, the Northampton was looking to expand to new people in various
wards because we wanted to kind of change a little bit of the direction Northampton
was going.
And it just so happened that the mayor who was Mary Ford at the time had been my sociology
(18:41):
of aging professor at UMass.
So it was a good fit.
And the Democratic committee asked different people in different wards, would you run?
And I was, I said, sure, why not?
What was that experience like?
Did you enjoy?
How long were I forget?
I should know because I'm a Northampton resident.
I should know this.
I don't remember how long you were there.
(19:02):
It was for five years.
And I left because we had the opportunity to go and live in Ireland.
We'll talk about that.
Yeah.
You know, I've always been interested about people that get into, to be a city counselor
because I don't think there are any perks.
I mean, to me, it's a lot of crossing T's and dotting I's and going into stop and shop
(19:26):
and somebody complaining to you when you're picking up P's that their potholes aren't
right or their streets not right.
I mean, I don't see the glamour in that.
I could never do it.
I admire anybody that says, I'm going to put in the time.
I know, I know there's a you get paid on some level, but I don't think it makes up for the
(19:48):
time that somebody has to put in if you're a decent city counselor or ward person probably
anywhere in America.
Right.
You have to have.
I mean, I would never, ever go back to politics again.
I will always be behind the scenes supporting people.
But it was it was a challenging time to be a city counselor.
(20:09):
But what was really exciting is that after this election, before the election, there
were nine men and a woman mayor.
And after the election, there were four women as city counselors, a woman mayor and five
men.
So that gender balance was phenomenal.
We made some changes in Northampton that have changed the history of Northampton.
(20:34):
Once again, we're talking about transitions.
A big time.
Yes.
Really, that's really what we're talking about.
This is not necessarily a Northampton podcast.
We can be heard by lots of people in lots of places.
But what would do you have something that you did just to give people an idea if they
don't know you?
Is there something that you did that you're particularly proud of?
(20:58):
Well, yeah, we had we we live in our ward.
We live in a very historic district.
And one of the things because of my involvement in the politics, we were able to get funding
for this very beautiful statue of Sojourner Truth.
And there was a I had to sometimes fight the fight because some neighbors said, oh, we
(21:23):
don't want this statue in our neighborhood and have buses of people coming here and everything.
Explain who she is in case someone doesn't know.
OK.
She was this phenomenal abolitionist who had grown up black and in slavery.
And then she became this this wonderful spokesperson for a free free people.
(21:46):
And you know, she she just began to change history.
She was friends with Frederick Douglass, and she actually had her first house in North
in Florence, Massachusetts.
See we're getting a history lesson here today.
It's you know, I love about doing the podcast.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day.
Matter of fact, you would know Linda former counselor.
(22:09):
And I always say that I have a few questions, but I never know where it's going because
you think about things that you've done.
You mentioned the whole statue thing.
That was a whole big thing.
Now it's not a big thing if you're not living in Northampton, but the story is interesting.
The fact that you come all the way from a phys ed teacher to or phys ed program and now
(22:33):
you're you're getting statues in Northampton.
I mean, that's that's quite a journey.
It's really something.
Let's talk a little bit.
You mentioned talking about journeys.
That was a good transition.
I didn't realize that you went to Ireland.
Not once, but twice.
Tell me about that, please.
Well, I have a husband who thinks he's Irish, but he was actually born in Braintree.
(22:57):
But he had an option.
He had a chance to go to Ireland during because of the year 2000 and he's a computer person.
And so he was going to save the world, right?
But it didn't need saving.
So I went with him for one year and I couldn't work then.
But I got to volunteer at an aging program.
(23:19):
They're a national aging program.
And I started the RSVP program in in Ireland before, which is the program I worked for
here for explain RSVP retired and senior volunteer program.
It's funded by the Corporation for National Community Service.
And I worked there 18 years in Northampton in that program.
(23:41):
But so I was able to do that.
And just again kind of blend in with the Irish culture.
And it was phenomenal.
It was wonderful.
But that wasn't the life changing time.
The life changing time is seven years following that.
My husband woke up and he said, I think I'd want to go back to Ireland again.
(24:01):
And I wasn't quite convinced I wanted to pick up my life in Northampton and go for 10 years
to another country, even though it was a wonderful year.
But I did.
And I ended up getting to work in a national aging program there.
Because by then I had a dual citizenship.
(24:23):
And I started two national programs that are still sustainable in Ireland.
Now let's talk about how it's different there from here.
When we talk about culture in Ireland and aging, is there a massive difference?
Well, there are differences, whether they're massive.
(24:46):
People still have physical disabilities in aging.
But we laugh a lot.
I laughed all the time there.
I laughed every time I went to work.
And somehow we get more focused in crossing the T's and dotting the I's.
But somehow in Ireland it always gets done whatever we're doing.
(25:11):
But there's also laughter involved.
And a lot of communication.
People talk all the time there.
So I fit in right away.
This is amazing.
I just had a run through my noggin.
My mom called me up one day.
This goes back probably eight years.
She said, I was driving the car.
(25:32):
She came up.
I'm originally from Connecticut.
And she came up to live and she was living in a senior complex in the Amherst Northampton
line.
And she loved to drive.
And she just liked being in the car and going.
She called me up.
And usually I talk to her at night this one day.
I got to tell you this.
I saw a sign, a motel or a hotel in Hadley.
(25:55):
And it said, a smile is the same in any language.
And I'm not big for bumper stickers.
I'm not one for that.
But I love that because you talk about laughing and smile and humor.
And certainly Irish humor.
If you know Irish people, they love telling Irish jokes with brogues and everything else.
(26:17):
I don't have an Irish brogue that I can duplicate.
But I know that that's a part of the whole culture.
But basically you think people are people pretty much the same, whether it's in Dublin
or it's in Northampton or Greenfield.
Oh, definitely.
Dublin has very similar needs.
The other thing is the pubs.
(26:38):
The pubs were there.
And it was fun.
And if you were 90 years old and you sat at the same pub every night on the same stall,
people would go by, hey, Joe, how's the hip today?
So that social isolation wasn't as quite as defined as it is here.
That's interesting.
(26:59):
I was going to ask you before we wrap up.
What do we talk about with regard to seniors that maybe somebody listening might not understand?
Now we don't know who's listening to a podcast.
Could be a younger person.
It could be their kids.
What do most people in your experience maybe don't understand about seniors?
(27:25):
Or give us an idea how we should think about seniors that we're not doing, that you've
learned over the years.
And I know you know a lot of stuff.
I think that, you know, I mean, there is ageism out there.
You know, it's like, you know, your people don't assimilate that well.
(27:47):
Like, you know, you don't maybe if you have a high school student going by or something,
I don't necessarily start talking to you or something or helping you out in the neighborhoods.
I think people have to open up a little bit like the Irish culture does and understand
that if you're 60, you still have things to offer.
(28:08):
If you're 80, you still have things to offer.
And I think establishing a sense of community is essential for everyone.
And I know I'm really involved with the Northampton neighbors, which is part of a national village
movement.
And it's beginning to establish this really strong sense of community so that if most
(28:34):
recently there was a presentation at the senior center by a woman who's a member of Northampton
neighbors who was from Germany, who lived through Hitler in Germany.
And she shared those experiences and they're still alive.
And I hope that we're going to try to introduce her to the Northampton high school so she
(28:56):
can again share those experiences because this is living history.
Anyway, I could really probably talk about four hours about this subject.
Well, I think it bugs me a little bit.
And I'm a senior.
But the thing that bugs me is the way the culture is, everything is young.
(29:19):
Everything.
I don't feel old until I put commercials on on TV and I watch a TV show, I watch a commercial.
I have no idea what they're talking about.
Now I'm not a computer literate.
I like computers.
I use computers a lot.
I do Photoshop.
(29:41):
I'm fine with computers till something breaks that I need help.
I'd have to call Alex, you know, and he would come through for me.
But everything is, and they want to dump on people.
That's my pet peeve.
You're older like you don't know anything.
Look at the commercial.
The commercial, but don't be like your parents that that's currently running on TV.
(30:06):
You know, oh, don't talk about that.
And that to me is terrible because everybody.
One thing that I did learn and you probably might agree to this.
I had folks in nursing homes, my parents, and but everybody that was there, everybody
had a story.
You know, everybody's got a story that they can tell.
(30:28):
And even if they're in a wheelchair and even if they can't talk or but I used to ask the
kids, tell me about your mom because I wanted I don't want to see her as just an old lady
in a wheelchair.
Yeah, tell her, you know, and they all she played cards and she loved playing cards.
And so she couldn't talk this particular woman.
She couldn't talk.
But but I said when I saw her, I didn't see her.
(30:50):
Then it's just an old lady in a wheelchair.
I pictured her kind of smiling, playing cards.
And I think maybe I think we need more of that, right?
Like like kids can give to the older and older and give to the younger.
Right.
I, you know, they everyone has a story.
And it's all it works.
And I guess I couldn't like you were talking about technology.
(31:14):
Well, one of my the programs I started in Ireland was called the getting started program
because only 6% at that point of Irish older people were computer literate.
And through that program, which is still going today, 35,000 people now have become
adequate on computers.
(31:35):
Wow.
Yeah.
That's an interesting story.
I think at the start of our podcast today, I said, we talked to some interesting people
that have had wonderful experiences from a shoe store to Dublin, back to Northampton,
Massachusetts.
I want to thank you for taking the journey up to Greenfield, Massachusetts and joining
(31:58):
us for the backyard Oasis podcast.
Thank you.
This concludes today's podcast.
We're always looking for new ideas.
So feel free to reach out to Judy Raper, associate Dean of community engagement at Greenfield
Community College at 413-775-1819.
(32:20):
If you have an idea, you'd love to share special thanks to the creators of backyard
Oasis, Denny Schwartz, Chad Fuller, Dennis Lee and Christine Copeland.
Have a great day.
Welcome to Backyard Oasis, a podcast designed by and for older adults living in the beautiful
(00:09):
Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts and produced in the tech studios at Greenfield
Community College in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Backyard Oasis reaches out to older adults who seek knowledge to help them live more
thoughtfully, healthfully and happily, who hope to inspire others with their ideas and
(00:31):
who serve their communities in the interest of the greater good.
Hi, this is Dennis Lee.
Welcome to the Backyard Oasis podcast.
We talk to interesting people that have had some wonderful experiences.
(00:55):
I've got somebody to talk to today that's had wonderful experiences.
That's why we said she should come here.
I asked our guest, Linda Desmond, for some background information.
She has sent me enough for the old show, This Is Your Life.
I thought she was going to send me like a little paragraph or something and I got this
missile with everything and I thought it was great.
(01:17):
It was wonderful stuff.
Linda, I know you went to school for a phys ed degree.
I was shocked by that.
I've never thought about you in phys ed.
I just never came in my brain because I've known you in your later roles.
But that's really an interesting story.
Welcome first of all.
(01:38):
Thank you.
Nice to have you here.
But tell us about that.
You wanted to get into phys ed, be a phys ed teacher.
Was that the deal?
Yeah, I shared a little bit about my history of having dyslexia and learning was more of
a challenge for me.
But the one thing that wasn't challenging is sports.
(01:58):
I was very, very good in sports.
And it just seemed so appropriate that that would be my next step.
Because it was the one place that I really felt that I was very competent in.
And then you got into an accident, a car accident, I guess, right?
And that must have been a physical situation so you couldn't continue.
(02:19):
So you had to make other plans that that's really kind of amazing in life is you never
know which way you're going to go and how you're going to end up in backyard oasis podcast.
We talk about transitions a lot of times and how people start one way, but they end up
somewhere else.
And you are really the perfect example of that of people that I know from phys ed to what
(02:43):
you've gone on to do.
It's really amazing.
So you came back to Northampton.
This cracked me up.
I laughed.
You sold shoes.
I did.
I did.
I sold shoes at David's Boot Shop.
And you worked for the phone company.
Yeah, that was a step up, actually.
All right.
(03:04):
Yeah.
Well, but then things changed.
You ended up working with seniors.
So I guess the question I've got to ask is what happened?
How do you go from shoes, the telephone company to seniors?
I know seniors were shoes, but that's not the connection, I think.
It was transition time for me.
(03:26):
You know, life happens.
I have two children and I also got a divorce.
And what I said to myself by mantra is I will never be dependent on another human being
again.
And that motivated me to start going back to school.
Which is an amazing story.
(03:48):
I think in notes you sent me, the email, you said you had an aha moment deciding to work
with seniors.
Tell us about that.
When was that?
About what year, roughly?
Oh, David, I know you're going to say.
Don't ask me about years.
They all kind of blend in together.
Skip the year.
(04:09):
Anyway, you ended up at community college.
They know that, which was a big deal for you.
But I mean, when did that thing about the seniors, what made that aha moment?
Well, I left the phone company and to get another job working with older people at the
Walter Salvo House.
In Northampton.
Yeah, it was a nutrition program.
(04:30):
It was part time.
It really worked.
I had two children.
It really worked into my lifestyle.
And I was really good at it.
Maybe 150 people used to come there on a daily basis to have lunch.
And I had to coordinate the lunch program through Highland Valley Elder Services.
Now what was it, though, about working with seniors that made you think, well, this is
(04:53):
for me.
I mean, you probably don't remember one example, but it was just how you felt when you worked
with people.
What was it about working with seniors?
Well, I guess I've always known I care about people.
I really care about people.
And as I started working there, I was doing some very good problem solving.
(05:15):
I didn't have a formal education at that time, but I had good problem solving skills.
And I really cared.
So that and this was the venue that I started to learn how good and I was at all of those
skill levels to do to work with human beings and people.
(05:36):
Right.
And that is a real skill.
Not everybody can do that.
That's very special, especially when you're dealing with different personalities.
And if you're dealing with seniors, they have their own set of problems.
Everybody in any age group, but they have some special ones that you have to deal with.
And obviously you said, did you actually say aha?
(05:57):
Because in your email, you said I had an aha moment.
Did you go aha?
It was my aha moment.
You know?
I knew I didn't want to self-choose anymore.
I knew that working in the phone company as an engineering clerk wasn't my life ambition.
And I was looking for that path.
And this was the path.
(06:19):
I want to talk a little bit, because you mentioned quickly about dyslexia.
In case people don't know, they know the term.
Give us an idea of how dyslexia affected your life and how you had to make changes because
of that.
Well, you don't feel like you have intelligence, because reading is very difficult.
(06:42):
And if you're in first or second grade, and reading is your whole curriculum, and you
struggle through that, and then you watch other people reading and just enjoying reading
and being so adequate with it.
So it made me feel that I didn't have any intellectual abilities.
(07:07):
And then you decided to go to college, Hoyo Community College?
Hoyo Community College, right.
So that was really life-changing as you described it to me.
Oh, it was.
I ended up getting A-pluses.
It just blew my mind that I had so much ability.
(07:27):
Since then, I've read some books about dyslexia.
And you know that maybe your skill level isn't the same as a person without dyslexia in reading
or test taking and things.
But you have other skills.
The one book I'm thinking about is dyslexia with advantages.
(07:49):
And what you can do is I can organize.
And that's what happened.
It was Hoyo Community College that your number one, you're with a lot of peers with similar
backgrounds.
Number two, it was very affordable.
And number three, your professors took an individual caring for you that a larger university
(08:14):
wouldn't have had.
And that was really necessary for me at that time.
Did you have one professor that stood out?
I don't need his name, but was there somebody that said, wow, I'm really going to help you
or a latch-dont or help you learn even more?
No.
They were all equally, they became mentors.
(08:36):
And it was just an excellent experience.
It was definitely the step that I needed to take at that time.
Wow.
Well, it's amazing to hear that story.
Once again, I'm thinking you went to college and you wanted to be in the gym and you left
the gym and you ended up in Hoyo.
And it was a good thing, right?
It was.
That's amazing.
So you worked at Highland Valley Elder Services and then you ended up going to UMass Amherst.
(09:02):
And I think you would call it a life-changing experience.
Tell us about that.
Well, this was really a funny experience.
A friend of mine who I worked with professionally at Highland Valley was given a professor position
at UMass.
And he said, so Linda, if you apply full-time at UMass, I'll get you through.
(09:25):
And he had been a priest in Ireland and he left the priesthood to start working within
the social service network.
And so I did.
So I ended up having two children working full-time and going to school full-time.
(09:46):
And it was really a challenge, but it was so rewarding.
Now you talked about somewhere I saw you, talked about leadership skills.
You read a book that made a big impression on you.
And I want to talk a little bit about that because I think it's really an incredible
ability when somebody has skills and leadership skills.
(10:08):
Not everybody can do it.
Everybody can say to their boss, oh, they should do this or do that.
But when you're the person, that's the boss, that's a real talent for the really good boss.
Anybody can say I'm a boss, but then are you a good boss, whatever that means in certain
situations.
Tell us a little bit.
You mentioned, what did you say?
(10:28):
Did I read the one-minute manager or something like that?
What was that book?
You read and you said that had a big impression on you.
Right.
Well, this was the 90s.
Now it's all coming back to me some of the time, the dates.
And you masked, they really taught.
They opened up the learning experience.
(10:50):
And if you were an undergraduate, you could take master's courses if your professor agreed.
So I knocked on the door of one of the professors and I asked if I could take her class.
And she said, no, you need an undergraduate degree.
So I mean, I just imagined the life working full-time, three children, two children at
(11:13):
that time.
So I went to my friend who was working in administration.
And that's what you really needed to do if you were a nontraditional student, get needed
to know the administrators of the colleges.
It's always who you know.
We hate to think that way, but let's be honest.
(11:34):
It helps to know somebody to maybe nudge you to getting your foot in the door.
So I went into her office and I started crying because it was just so hard.
It was beginning to be so hard to stand in line, get classes, run to work, just the whole
(11:55):
bit.
And so she said, how would you like to take a graduate course called situational leadership
by this professor called Ken Blanchard?
He just wrote, one minute manager, it's on the New York Times bestseller list.
And so I said, oh my god, that would be phenomenal.
(12:16):
But this was the best part.
It was two weekends at Okemoski area for three credits.
And it sounds like it was really fluffy, but it was really hard work and it was so rewarding.
So she picked up the phone called Ken Blanchard in California and she said, would you open
your class to this undergraduate who, and his comment was, well, can she do it?
(12:41):
And she in her comment was, she more than can do it.
So I got into that class and it was wonderful.
Now you mentioned that with these leadership skills that really opened the door and you've
used a lot of those ideas.
Can we talk a little bit about leadership skills?
I think that's a whole, probably a whole podcast unto itself, but I think it's really
(13:03):
fascinating.
Well, his concept was based on personality and so that if you have a certain personality,
this would be the leadership skill you would follow.
And what was interesting is that almost every course I took following that, they always brought
(13:25):
up his theory on leadership skills.
And so everyone, it's person centered.
Everyone doesn't always have the same leadership skills, but personality is a main factor.
And it just worked.
It really did.
And so that was a really important part of your life.
(13:46):
Oh, big time.
And you still use some of those ideas when you were doing other things.
And I know you also in Northampton, you ran the senior center for a year or so and you
were very popular.
People liked you.
When you left, people were walking around depressed.
I know that for a fact.
(14:07):
I say that because I was doing some photography for the senior center at the time.
Matter of fact, I think you got me into that now that I think of it.
But when you left, people were sad because you are, I hate to phrase your people for
a person because everybody, what does that mean?
But in your case, I think it's true.
People know that when you walk up to somebody and you ask and you talk to them and you say,
(14:32):
how are you, you're not doing that because somebody said you should say, how are you,
you're doing that because you really care.
And that's pretty darn important for people to feel that way.
So what was that experience like, by the way, running a senior center?
We'll get back to some of the other things.
What was that like?
I knew this was going to be my last professional job before retirement.
(14:55):
And it was, it was perfect.
I had been on their board for 17 years before that.
And you know, I've had, before I became the director, I had 50 years experience working
with older people.
So it was kind of a piece of cake.
And I really loved introducing a lot of the skills of a lifetime into that position.
(15:18):
And I did.
I did very well.
I can attest to that.
You didn't tell me to say that.
It's just true.
I'm sorry.
I got to speak the truth.
There's a polyglour.
Our engineer, Alex, has a polygraph over there.
So if I say something in the pod podcast, that's weird.
He's alarms go off and lights and everything else.
So that's just true.
Anyway, let's talk a little bit.
I know you ended up going to Yukon, which is quite a ways from Holyoke Community College,
(15:45):
ended up with a certificate in gerontology, which is.
And an MSW, an MSW that.
So that's a heck of an achievement for somebody who was having a hard time reading.
Yep.
Well, by then, by then I could read and I read effectively, you know, but it took, it
took a long time to get the confidence.
(16:05):
That's the whole thing.
That's what you need is the confidence.
And and Yukon was a little bit more in the box than UMass.
UMass had a little bit more, you had more freedom and a little bit more, you know, I
don't know, but, you know, it was, it was good and it was necessary, but they did give
(16:26):
you the ability to work, to go to school during the weekends.
And that's again, what I needed because I had my third child at that time.
So I, I, and I had, I was working at Hampshire Community Action Commission and I asked my
boss Tim Deal, could I take Fridays off, work longer hours, Monday through Thursday.
(16:49):
And so that was how I ended up getting my MSW in a timely manner.
Talk about making transitions.
I mean, this is what this whole thing really is about.
We talk about, you've made so many transitions way back from his head to what we're talking
about now.
And there's another transition.
(17:09):
I love this.
Then it became a city counselor.
Now there's got to be something to get into politics.
I don't want to talk politics, you know, these days.
I don't want to do that.
But to become, to become a city counselor, that's got to be a whole different experience.
That's not, that's different than dealing with a senior that's got a problem making
(17:29):
some conversation.
What on earth possessed you to get to be a city counselor?
Well, I was motivated again by a professor at UConn.
And this person basically said, you know, if you're going, she made the statement to
the whole class that if you are going to be social workers, then you have to also become
(17:54):
politically active.
And because you've got to represent the population from a social work perspective, which is different
than if you were coming from a business background.
And it was just so happened that just exactly when I've got my degree, my MSW, and my graduate
(18:17):
certification in gerontology, we, the Northampton was looking to expand to new people in various
wards because we wanted to kind of change a little bit of the direction Northampton
was going.
And it just so happened that the mayor who was Mary Ford at the time had been my sociology
(18:41):
of aging professor at UMass.
So it was a good fit.
And the Democratic committee asked different people in different wards, would you run?
And I was, I said, sure, why not?
What was that experience like?
Did you enjoy?
How long were I forget?
I should know because I'm a Northampton resident.
I should know this.
I don't remember how long you were there.
(19:02):
It was for five years.
And I left because we had the opportunity to go and live in Ireland.
We'll talk about that.
Yeah.
You know, I've always been interested about people that get into, to be a city counselor
because I don't think there are any perks.
I mean, to me, it's a lot of crossing T's and dotting I's and going into stop and shop
(19:26):
and somebody complaining to you when you're picking up P's that their potholes aren't
right or their streets not right.
I mean, I don't see the glamour in that.
I could never do it.
I admire anybody that says, I'm going to put in the time.
I know, I know there's a you get paid on some level, but I don't think it makes up for the
(19:48):
time that somebody has to put in if you're a decent city counselor or ward person probably
anywhere in America.
Right.
You have to have.
I mean, I would never, ever go back to politics again.
I will always be behind the scenes supporting people.
But it was it was a challenging time to be a city counselor.
(20:09):
But what was really exciting is that after this election, before the election, there
were nine men and a woman mayor.
And after the election, there were four women as city counselors, a woman mayor and five
men.
So that gender balance was phenomenal.
We made some changes in Northampton that have changed the history of Northampton.
(20:34):
Once again, we're talking about transitions.
A big time.
Yes.
Really, that's really what we're talking about.
This is not necessarily a Northampton podcast.
We can be heard by lots of people in lots of places.
But what would do you have something that you did just to give people an idea if they
don't know you?
Is there something that you did that you're particularly proud of?
(20:58):
Well, yeah, we had we we live in our ward.
We live in a very historic district.
And one of the things because of my involvement in the politics, we were able to get funding
for this very beautiful statue of Sojourner Truth.
And there was a I had to sometimes fight the fight because some neighbors said, oh, we
(21:23):
don't want this statue in our neighborhood and have buses of people coming here and everything.
Explain who she is in case someone doesn't know.
OK.
She was this phenomenal abolitionist who had grown up black and in slavery.
And then she became this this wonderful spokesperson for a free free people.
(21:46):
And you know, she she just began to change history.
She was friends with Frederick Douglass, and she actually had her first house in North
in Florence, Massachusetts.
See we're getting a history lesson here today.
It's you know, I love about doing the podcast.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day.
Matter of fact, you would know Linda former counselor.
(22:09):
And I always say that I have a few questions, but I never know where it's going because
you think about things that you've done.
You mentioned the whole statue thing.
That was a whole big thing.
Now it's not a big thing if you're not living in Northampton, but the story is interesting.
The fact that you come all the way from a phys ed teacher to or phys ed program and now
(22:33):
you're you're getting statues in Northampton.
I mean, that's that's quite a journey.
It's really something.
Let's talk a little bit.
You mentioned talking about journeys.
That was a good transition.
I didn't realize that you went to Ireland.
Not once, but twice.
Tell me about that, please.
Well, I have a husband who thinks he's Irish, but he was actually born in Braintree.
(22:57):
But he had an option.
He had a chance to go to Ireland during because of the year 2000 and he's a computer person.
And so he was going to save the world, right?
But it didn't need saving.
So I went with him for one year and I couldn't work then.
But I got to volunteer at an aging program.
(23:19):
They're a national aging program.
And I started the RSVP program in in Ireland before, which is the program I worked for
here for explain RSVP retired and senior volunteer program.
It's funded by the Corporation for National Community Service.
And I worked there 18 years in Northampton in that program.
(23:41):
But so I was able to do that.
And just again kind of blend in with the Irish culture.
And it was phenomenal.
It was wonderful.
But that wasn't the life changing time.
The life changing time is seven years following that.
My husband woke up and he said, I think I'd want to go back to Ireland again.
(24:01):
And I wasn't quite convinced I wanted to pick up my life in Northampton and go for 10 years
to another country, even though it was a wonderful year.
But I did.
And I ended up getting to work in a national aging program there.
Because by then I had a dual citizenship.
(24:23):
And I started two national programs that are still sustainable in Ireland.
Now let's talk about how it's different there from here.
When we talk about culture in Ireland and aging, is there a massive difference?
Well, there are differences, whether they're massive.
(24:46):
People still have physical disabilities in aging.
But we laugh a lot.
I laughed all the time there.
I laughed every time I went to work.
And somehow we get more focused in crossing the T's and dotting the I's.
But somehow in Ireland it always gets done whatever we're doing.
(25:11):
But there's also laughter involved.
And a lot of communication.
People talk all the time there.
So I fit in right away.
This is amazing.
I just had a run through my noggin.
My mom called me up one day.
This goes back probably eight years.
She said, I was driving the car.
(25:32):
She came up.
I'm originally from Connecticut.
And she came up to live and she was living in a senior complex in the Amherst Northampton
line.
And she loved to drive.
And she just liked being in the car and going.
She called me up.
And usually I talk to her at night this one day.
I got to tell you this.
I saw a sign, a motel or a hotel in Hadley.
(25:55):
And it said, a smile is the same in any language.
And I'm not big for bumper stickers.
I'm not one for that.
But I love that because you talk about laughing and smile and humor.
And certainly Irish humor.
If you know Irish people, they love telling Irish jokes with brogues and everything else.
(26:17):
I don't have an Irish brogue that I can duplicate.
But I know that that's a part of the whole culture.
But basically you think people are people pretty much the same, whether it's in Dublin
or it's in Northampton or Greenfield.
Oh, definitely.
Dublin has very similar needs.
The other thing is the pubs.
(26:38):
The pubs were there.
And it was fun.
And if you were 90 years old and you sat at the same pub every night on the same stall,
people would go by, hey, Joe, how's the hip today?
So that social isolation wasn't as quite as defined as it is here.
That's interesting.
(26:59):
I was going to ask you before we wrap up.
What do we talk about with regard to seniors that maybe somebody listening might not understand?
Now we don't know who's listening to a podcast.
Could be a younger person.
It could be their kids.
What do most people in your experience maybe don't understand about seniors?
(27:25):
Or give us an idea how we should think about seniors that we're not doing, that you've
learned over the years.
And I know you know a lot of stuff.
I think that, you know, I mean, there is ageism out there.
You know, it's like, you know, your people don't assimilate that well.
(27:47):
Like, you know, you don't maybe if you have a high school student going by or something,
I don't necessarily start talking to you or something or helping you out in the neighborhoods.
I think people have to open up a little bit like the Irish culture does and understand
that if you're 60, you still have things to offer.
(28:08):
If you're 80, you still have things to offer.
And I think establishing a sense of community is essential for everyone.
And I know I'm really involved with the Northampton neighbors, which is part of a national village
movement.
And it's beginning to establish this really strong sense of community so that if most
(28:34):
recently there was a presentation at the senior center by a woman who's a member of Northampton
neighbors who was from Germany, who lived through Hitler in Germany.
And she shared those experiences and they're still alive.
And I hope that we're going to try to introduce her to the Northampton high school so she
(28:56):
can again share those experiences because this is living history.
Anyway, I could really probably talk about four hours about this subject.
Well, I think it bugs me a little bit.
And I'm a senior.
But the thing that bugs me is the way the culture is, everything is young.
(29:19):
Everything.
I don't feel old until I put commercials on on TV and I watch a TV show, I watch a commercial.
I have no idea what they're talking about.
Now I'm not a computer literate.
I like computers.
I use computers a lot.
I do Photoshop.
(29:41):
I'm fine with computers till something breaks that I need help.
I'd have to call Alex, you know, and he would come through for me.
But everything is, and they want to dump on people.
That's my pet peeve.
You're older like you don't know anything.
Look at the commercial.
The commercial, but don't be like your parents that that's currently running on TV.
(30:06):
You know, oh, don't talk about that.
And that to me is terrible because everybody.
One thing that I did learn and you probably might agree to this.
I had folks in nursing homes, my parents, and but everybody that was there, everybody
had a story.
You know, everybody's got a story that they can tell.
(30:28):
And even if they're in a wheelchair and even if they can't talk or but I used to ask the
kids, tell me about your mom because I wanted I don't want to see her as just an old lady
in a wheelchair.
Yeah, tell her, you know, and they all she played cards and she loved playing cards.
And so she couldn't talk this particular woman.
She couldn't talk.
But but I said when I saw her, I didn't see her.
(30:50):
Then it's just an old lady in a wheelchair.
I pictured her kind of smiling, playing cards.
And I think maybe I think we need more of that, right?
Like like kids can give to the older and older and give to the younger.
Right.
I, you know, they everyone has a story.
And it's all it works.
And I guess I couldn't like you were talking about technology.
(31:14):
Well, one of my the programs I started in Ireland was called the getting started program
because only 6% at that point of Irish older people were computer literate.
And through that program, which is still going today, 35,000 people now have become
adequate on computers.
(31:35):
Wow.
Yeah.
That's an interesting story.
I think at the start of our podcast today, I said, we talked to some interesting people
that have had wonderful experiences from a shoe store to Dublin, back to Northampton,
Massachusetts.
I want to thank you for taking the journey up to Greenfield, Massachusetts and joining
(31:58):
us for the backyard Oasis podcast.
Thank you.
This concludes today's podcast.
We're always looking for new ideas.
So feel free to reach out to Judy Raper, associate Dean of community engagement at Greenfield
Community College at 413-775-1819.
(32:20):
If you have an idea, you'd love to share special thanks to the creators of backyard
Oasis, Denny Schwartz, Chad Fuller, Dennis Lee and Christine Copeland.
Have a great day.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.