Celebrate National Retro Day with Your Elderly Loved One
Everything comes back in fashion, right?
That’s the key thought behind National Retro Day celebrated on February 27th every year. It’s a time to reflect on the trends, fads, fashions, and foods of the past and celebrate them today. This can be a really fun little holiday for your elderly loved one to celebrate as she gets to relive some of her favorite items from her younger years.
What is the Purpose of National Retro Day?
The goal of National Retro Day is to take some time to remember what life was like before smartphones, the internet, and 10,000 streaming channels. Its goal is to celebrate what once was and even strive toward bringing it back into fashion. For many seniors, a fun, little holiday like this provides an excellent opportunity to share what they’ve experienced in life and help others (especially younger generations) appreciate not only what they have today, but also what your loved one had when he was young that is no longer common for most people.
Six Ways to Celebrate National Retro Day
If possible, gather up grandchildren and younger generations to join your loved one on this day centered around reminiscing and rediscovering forgotten treasures of years gone by. If that isn’t possible, your loved one can still do these events with others like his companion care at home provider. You can ask his companion care at home provider to plan one or two of these fun activities to help him celebrate the day.
1) Visit an Antique Store
Creating a day trip to an antique store can be a lot of fun for your elderly loved one. Antique stores are usually crammed from floor to ceiling with every product possible from the past. It can be entertaining for your loved one to walk through the store and name all of the things he either had or used as a child. He might find favorite toys, clothes, or kitchenware that spark forgotten memories.
2) Visit Historic Sights in Your Community
Another fun outing can be heading to his local history museum or point of interest to read about days gone by and the people who have lived there in the past. It can be a great way to learn more about the people who made up the first communities around him.
3) Make a Meal of Past Favorites
Ask your loved one what some of his favorite meals were growing up and then try to recreate them. Find older recipes that used ingredients common at that time to make them authentic.
4) Watch a Retro Movie or Listen to Retro Music
If your loved one cannot get out much, there are ways to celebrate the day at home with his companion care at home provider. They can watch the first movie he saw in a theater, or listen to some music from his youth.
5) Play a Retro Board Game
Put away those video games and play a good old-fashioned board game like Scrabble, Monopoly, or Checkers.
6) Write a letter and use “snail mail.”
Find some nice writing paper, a good pen, some envelopes and stamps, and have your loved one write letters to those he loves and mail them off. There’s nothing more personal than a handwritten letter and it will be cherished for years to come.
