Developed by Anne Basting in 1998, the TimeSlips Project has generated hundreds of stories, produced plays and art exhibits, and rekindled the hope for human connection among people struggling with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Storytellers sit in a circle while a student passes
around an image. The students ask questions, such as: What is her name?
What is she doing? How does she feel? A student with a notepad jots down
all the responses, which quickly build into a vivid, sometimes fanciful
story.
The story reproduced below was inspired by a photo of an elderly aviatrix, held by one of the storytellers shown at right.
Ethel Rebecca may be old, but she’s full of vim and vigor.
She knows how to fly, and flying makes her happy.
Ethel’s got a perfect record - no crashes - because she’s a very determined pilot.
She’s not flying alone - Dizzy Gillespie is in the back seat playing the clarinet.
After Chicago, they’ll fly to Seattle to visit her granddaughter Dorothy.
Ethel has three children, Hilda, ABCDEFG, and Grizelda Mary.
She has a husband - she better! - named James who
drives a bus.
He’s only 70…Ethel’s a bit of a cradle robber!
People tell her to keep good sense and keep her feet on the ground.
Her family worries themselves sick about her.
But Ethel flies because it makes her feel free, and
because her family
doesn’t pay her enough attention.
All the way to Seattle, the weather is clear, Dizzy
plays clarinet, Ethel sings Mary’s
Italian song (“Ceru Luna Mia Maza”), and she remembers the farm her father
Lee Hugh built and his big red horse.
But that’s all gone now.