Persona

Name: Ruth

Age: 86

Relationship: Grandmother

Location: Cleveland

Think and Feel

Ruth cares the most about her family’s wellbeing.  She wants both her children and grandchildren to be healthy and happy.  She wishes that they have good careers and always good luck.

Ruth is widowed and still thinks of her late husband Sam a lot.  She reminders when they were poor and when they got a little money.  She thinks about when they took dancing lessons (cha-cha) and had to give a performance.  Ruth was nervous but Sam took the lead and made sure they did well.

Her biggest worries are about health of her children and grandchildren.  Her biggest aspirations are that her family stays healthy.   She feels hopeful when her grandchildren call and when she prays.

See

Ruth does not drive so she spends a lot of time in her apartment.  Her apartment is filled with pictures of her family.  She also likes to collect china and figurines.  Her home is usually very neat with the exception of a stack of bills on the kitchen counter.  She likes to watch Turner Movie Classics.  Ruth likes watching the afternoon and evening news (“Anderson Cooper”).  She really likes the View because they always try to solve a problem.  They talk freely.  She finds it freethinking and likes hearing opinions.  She does not like violent or disturbing programs like police procedurals.   She frequently manages to break her remote and has to call her grandson to fix it.  She has almost a savant like ability to mess up technology.  One time she managed to reprogram her TV to Spanish (she doesn’t speak Spanish)

Ruth considers her closest friends to be her two daughters, cousin Sadie (both Sadie and Ruth were only children), and her sister in law.  She says her friends that are not family –are sick or dying off.

Ruth tends to leave the house to either go out to eat, shop, and watch movies. She does not have a particular brand preference.   She likes to buy clothes from Nordstrom.  She thinks that the help is very kind (“sweet as apple pie”).   She likes looking at shoes particularly heels (even though she wears an ankle brace).  Ruth goes to the Dior makeup counter to get her makeup.  She really enjoys going to their restaurant (“wonderful restaurant”).   She does not like to buy clothes at Target (“that red circle place”).  She does not really like the environment.

Say and Do

Ruth likes going out in public.  She has been buying fedoras and she says that she does not want to brag but she gets lots of compliments from men and women on her appearance.  She says it makes her feel young.

Ruth likes to wear black pants and a lacy top.  When she wants a more casual look, she will wear long cotton shirts with a vest.  She likes long earrings that “look hot”.  Her favorite purse is a black leather purse with different colored flowers that her daughters brought back from Italy.

Ruth likes to talk to strangers.  She tries to get people to laugh or smile.  She thinks that makes people feel better.  She says that when you laugh your heart feels overwhelmed.

Hear

Ruth tends to hear a lot about politics and the presidential election right now from her friends.  She says they also talk a lot about their various ailments.  She does not like to talk about her illnesses.  She does listen to health news specifically about Parkinson’s disease because her late husband Sam had Parkinson’s disease.

She finds that the lady in charge of activities, Lisa, in her apartment is influential.  Lisa helps residents that no longer drive find drivers.  Lisa encourages Ruth to take part in activities.  Ruth likes to go to birthday parties, book reviews (she often does not read the book), and other activities.

Pain

Ruth’s biggest fear is not being able to be alive to see her grandchildren walk down the aisle.  Ruth gets frustrated with her daughters.  She says that they watch her every move and tell her what not to do.  Then she admits that her biggest obstacle is walking and staying alert.  She concedes that her daughters might have some justification for their watchfulness.

Gain

Ruth’s primary goal is to stay healthy and to not fall again.  She walks with a walker now.  She wants to be around to help her children with love, money, or advice (“even though they don’t listen”).  

Ruth does not measure success in terms of making the most amount of money.  She thinks that if people are happy to go to work or volunteer then they are successful.