Helen Beck, born in 1917 and shown here with NCC radio/TV major Aaron Clark, recalled her grandmother making wine in the cellar. Her grandmother also told her that lipstick and nail polish were the “sons of the Devil.” Neither can she forget her first job after graduating from Liberty High School: stuffing fliers into envelopes--for $1 a day.

Joe Skolnick, almost 80, cast back to his first day at Brooklyn College. A pretty girl sat down next to him, and he promised to save the seat for her at the next class. As it turns out, the young woman never returned. When another girl claimed the seat, Skolnick protested. The second girl turned out to be Skolnick’s future wife.

A husband and wife, married 72 years, recounted their first encounter, at a strawberry festival, to which, the husband said, he did not go for the strawberries.

The reminiscences of Beck, Skolnick, and other residents of Country Meadows Retirement Community in Bethlehem, were among the audio taped life stories collected by nursing and radio/TV students in a joint project. Paired with one nursing student and one radio/TV student, the residents made new friends across three generations and created a keepsake for their families’ delight. Two residents, Beck and Olive Hawk, joined the students on May 6 in Communications Hall, to hear the tapes played.

Music accompanied the narratives. Aaron Clark, a radio/TV major, chose two of Helen Beck’s favorite songs, “Maria Lena” and “Bluebird of Happiness.” Tom Wynn, a radio/TV major, recorded a rushing stream as the backdrop to Olive Hawk’s tales of fly fishing with her husband and children. Big band music jazzed up Skolnick’s memoir—most appropriately, since he’d worked for CBS during the heyday of television.

The interviews proved valuable for both students and residents. “It was a phenomenal experience,” said Rebecca Fenstermaker, a nursing student who also works at Gracedale Nursing Home. That an elder was willing to share her life with a stranger greatly moved Fenstermaker. “So often older people are forgotten. I want to help them bring their lives out.”

Nursing student Ana Fernandez sees the experience in light of a holistic approach to health care. “Helping people reminisce and get closure on past experiences and issues via therapeutic conversation is part of that holistic approach.” The project also showed her that older people are not just a group, but individuals with differing lives.

For radio/TV major Colleen Shea (left), the talks inspired a new outlook. “The people we interviewed have lived on Earth a long time and are still loving life. I want to be like that.”

Nursing Instructor Fabiola Espinal, R.N. emphasized the value of the project. “Sharing their stories made the residents feel important, that they matter,” said. “Eliciting the stories not only aided nursing students in brushing up on the skill of listening, but also on appreciating the wisdom and values of an older generation. Through the recordings, residents will be remembered by their own families and others as valuable people in society.”

In addition to relating life stories, most interviewees culled their experiences for advice for their listeners: “Every day is an experience,” Skolnick said. “Make new friends, readjust to life and go on.” “The grass is never really greener on the other side,” Beck said. “Stay with it, no matter how tough it gets.”

The tapes will air periodically on NCC’s radio station, WNCC.