Over the last eight decades, Marcia has learned the key to aging well: empathy.
“I believe life becomes richer,” she says, “when we stop focusing solely on our own experiences and start paying attention to the experiences of others.”
Whether she’s thinking about Katerina the Great – her Siberian feline friend – or the people she’s met traveling everywhere from the Amalfi Coast to Dubai, Marcia is always interested in other people’s perspectives.
Fashioning an open mind
Born in Brooklyn in 1945, Marcia built a career that took her from computers into human resources while also raising two children and eventually merging her family with her second husband’s family.
For Marcia, the only way to navigate all of life’s changes was to stay open to them and to the perspectives of the people she shared them with – even if it meant following some unorthodox habits.
“I got lucky and married a man with a great sense of style,” she says. “I just let him pick out all my clothes. Even as a teenager, my daughter had no interest in shopping with me. She wanted Jerry, because he was going to do a much better job.”
She laughs when reflecting on the memory.
“Our family did things a little backwards.”
In all seriousness, though, the same openness that allowed the family to do things their own way also enhanced their relationships, cultivating joy and connection.
“To find more joy,” Marcia says, “first you have to be open to it and want it. And then just let it hit you.”
Expanding your horizons
“Travel changes your whole outlook,” Marcia says of the importance of seeing new places.
Having visited cities around the world, she says seeing how differently people live helps to develop that key ingredient: empathy. Perhaps this is especially true when you’re young.
“They say travel is broadening – I never really knew what that meant until I watched the effect on my teenage grandkids. It helps you understand your fellow man.”
For Marcia, that understanding travels across all horizons – around the world, among neighbors and between generations and species.
Today, in her senior living community at Atria West 86, these life lessons are as essential to Marcia’s worldview as they were while leading corporate HR teams. Whether she’s acknowledging the privilege of her generation or expressing gratitude for her cat, Marcia’s prevailing wisdom is to learn from others and trust them to make their own choices. Even if it’s not always what you would do.
“The older I get,” she says, “the less qualified I feel to be giving advice to anybody. You do what you can do.”
In celebration of Atria’s 30th anniversary, we’re sharing Pearls of Wisdom from the wisest people we know – the residents in our senior living communities, who have navigated every chapter of life. Visit AtriaPearls.com to browse an archive of their advice and gather even more wisdom.
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