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The Experience of Our Years

November 20, 2012

Residents of Carleton-Willard Village Remember the Moments and Events That Made Them Who They Are Today

About the collection

In the summer of 2012, journalist Nancy Shohet West asked the residents of Carleton-Willard Village, “What was the most formative event of your life? What experience, circumstance or situation do you credit for making you the person you are today?” Forty-seven men and women, ranging in age from 71 to 97, responded, each in a different way. There were stories of military service, immigration, careers, college years, marriages, tragedies, moments of joy and times of hardship. Topics range far and wide. For example:

• A mother helps her three young sons cope after the suicide of their father
• An English schoolboy, encouraged by a grade school teacher, becomes the first in his class to go to college – and joins the Royal Air Force
• A middle-aged woman makes a difficult choice when her husband compels her to decide whether to stay in their marriage or pursue her career goals
• A grandmother looks at four generations of her family and how each confronted the issue of racism
• A business innovator analyzes his lifelong penchant for risk-taking
• A young German man helps with a Schindler-type operation during World War II, smuggling Jews to safety in Berlin
• A man contemplates the powerful influence his boyhood experiences at camp held over the decisions made in his adult life
• A woman traces the success of her career to the loving upbringing she received from her grandparents
• A minister in middle age seeks a transfer to Africa and leads a cathedral in Zambia
• After decades of working as a secretary, a gardening hobbyist moves to Carleton-Willard and becomes a leader
• Hearing of Lindbergh’s crossing of the Atlantic inspires a lifelong passion for aviation in a New England farmboy
• A close reading of “Silent Spring” engenders a personal crusade

But each story has one common element: they all resonate with the profound insight that comes from years of living, learning, and developing a unique understanding of the world.

About the editor
Nancy Shohet West is a freelance journalist in the Boston area. A frequent contributor to the Boston Globe and author of the memoir “The Mother-Son Running Streak Club,” she has helped several people write and publish their own memoirs. Find out more about her work at www.NancyShohetWest.com.