Riscoprire l'ultima età della vita. Una riflessione pedagogica sulla vecchiaia. Rediscovering the last age of life. A pedagogical reflection on old age

This paper sets out from the consideration that nowadays old age is increasingly a source of new fears; these fears seem to translate into obsessive forms of a search for eternal youth. By way of a close comparison between the last two stages of life, adulthood and old age, the paper reviews some aspects of old age as a stage in the life cycle of the individual. First of all, the need to recover the dimension of gratitude is firmly underscored, translating into genuine care for the pact between generations. Gratitude and gratuity, which are opposed to envy and despair, appear as the essential elements of a sense of integrity in old age. However, integrity is only possible through family and intergenerational relations. From an intergenerational perspective, the educational task of the elderly is accomplished by welcoming all that is new emerging from the younger generations and redefining the boundaries between generations (that of offspring and that of grandchildren). Thinking of ways to accompany and support old age, as a family transition, might make the final stage of life richer and less marked by despair and loneliness.