An interview with Nancy Alquist, Jenner, CA
Nancy Alquist was born in southeast Arizona in 1925 and lived her first ten years on her father’s cattle ranch. At age 10, her mother decided it was time to move into town so Nancy and her brother could “learn how to get along with other people our own age.” She graduated from high school in the small town of Douglas, AZ on the Mexican border. She then went on to college; first to a “finishing school” in Hollywood, California for junior college where her most vivid memory was of graduation when they marched in to the Triumphal March from Aida, rather than the expected Pomp and Circumstance tune. Nancy went on to complete her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Arizona in anthropology, thanks to the inspiration of a “magnificent professor who taught one class in ethnology,” providing Nancy with an educational framework for better understanding her experiences as a child, having grown up around three distinct cultures: Anglo-American, Mexican, and Yaqui Indian.
After graduation, Nancy moved back to Los Angeles, found clerical work, married for five years, and eventually discovered social work as a career to support herself and her son based on the advice of an “astute counselor” at the California Department of Employment. At one point, Nancy became disgruntled with the way she and other county employees were treated and she joined the efforts to bring the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to the area in 1966. The main concerns of organizers such as Nancy were related to the lack of recognition and value placed on the work they were doing in the field. Core values Nancy was raised with were to work hard, do the right thing, and in turn you could expect decent treatment and fair compensation; yet she knew this wasn’t happening. Prior to collective bargaining, Nancy described their annual process of “collective begging” as going to the board of supervisors to beg for an increase in allocated funds. Written job descriptions and expectations at that time did not reflect actual field experiences, and field workers were not allowed to provide input to more accurately reflect their reality. For one thing, the field of social work at the time didn’t take into consideration cultural differences that were very much a reality among client families in L.A. County. Also, employees had no medical insurance, the civil service rules were not necessarily followed, and some employees received less compensation than comparably sized families on welfare. Eventually, the union made a difference in all these areas.
Nancy’s life changed abruptly when her mother had a stroke and Nancy returned to Arizona to care for her. Like herself, Nancy’s mother was an independent spirited woman, and the role reversal was a bit of an adjustment. She eventually found a good caregiver and was able to return to L.A. where she embarked on a 10 year active volunteer career for the American Red Cross. Her first relief effort was back in Arizona after the Tucson flood of 1983, and her last assignment was in the Caribbean after Hurricane Hugo.
When Nancy’s son and daughter in law moved to Northern California in 1988, they helped her look for affordable investment property on the California Coast and found a 40+ acre property to purchase near Jenner. After a series of health issues, Nancy moved to this property a decade later, and she still resides there. It’s not a cattle ranch, but it’s definitely rural! Since then, she has struggled with other health issues, including a significant bout with pneumonia which required surgery and extended rehabilitation at Golden Living Center in Santa Rosa. She couldn’t say enough good things about the therapy staff there, stating “they interviewed and tested me to find out what I could do and encouraged me to do something daily, but didn’t push me beyond what I was capable of doing.” She was equally pleased with the care she received at a local residential care home, Elsa’s, where she continued her recovery under 24 hour supervision until she was able to safely return to her home just weeks ago. Nancy admitted feeling some concern when social workers initially approached her about the idea, because she recalled a rather “grim” experience at a care home back in her social work days when she visited a disabled client. Fortunately, her recent experience was “180 degrees different; the complete opposite.” She described “friendly, fantastic” caregivers and “very well prepared, balanced” meals. Other residents were also “fun” company at meal times, while maintaining a sense of independence and privacy at other times, which she appreciated.
Despite her own experience with aging parents, Nancy openly admits she didn’t connect her experience with aging parents to her own reality today, and her son still worries about her despite having in-home care. Her advice for other seniors is to “find some means of comprehending what’s going to happen down the line” and discuss future care needs and options with family members because “it will never happen to me” thinking is unrealistic, particularly as we live longer and lack the extended family living arrangements of prior generations (and some other cultures). She also encourages people to keep their bodies and minds healthy to avoid some of the preventable problems associated with aging. Nancy keeps her mind active by reading, computer games, and the World Wide Web. Yes, she’s a self-described “computer illiterate” but has a computer and regularly searches the Web, which is up and running most of the time thanks to Sonic.net!
Nancy also encourages other retirees to apply their work skills in some form of volunteerism. “It gives you a reason to get up every day and get out of the house. You’re doing and learning something worthwhile, and particularly in our country where we’re being exposed to different cultures every day. So much is fascinating!”
One of Nancy’s primary guiding values is to respect other human beings who earn respect. Not because of culture, skin color or language, but because of the way they behave; their moral conduct. She lives up to her own moral standard and is clearly a survivor, having survived numerous medical challenges. Nancy has a contagious enthusiasm for life and living, which is wise, indeed!
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