"I now declare myself officially an ELDER. Do not fuck with me. Thank you."
Confession: I have always found this "elder" stuff kind of hokey. Elder this, elder that. "Elder music," "elder studies." Ugh. Problem is, the term as used so often online refers only to advanced age.* If you're such and such an age, you're an Elder. Sbpflllt! If you enjoy any music or do any studying in your dotage, that doesn't make the music or the studies "elder."
Elder does mean anyone older than you....like a parent or older sibling or an ancestor or forebear. Elder also can be a verb meaning to "act like a big brother or sister." My personal elders were very fond of this interpretation, and they eldered all the time. "Respect your elders," they used to say (often followed by a punch on the arm).
Among Native Americans, Elder also has a tribal meaning: a wise person who is a "repository of cultural and philosophical knowledge and...the transmitter of such information" [Medicine, Dr. Beatrice (2001). "My Elders Tell Me", Learning to Be an Anthropologist & Remaining 'Native': Selected Writings, p.73. ISBN 0-252-06979-X.]
Churches also have Elders: Those who help the minister handle the business of the parish. My neighbor is a Deaconess in her church, and that's an elder of sorts.
I'm guessing that Schulman is taking the tribal meaning here when she says she is now officially an Elder. She is definitely a repository of cultural and philosophical knowledge, and she definitely is a transmitter thereof. And I have long respected her for this, looked up to her, been amazed and thankful that she remembered who I was the last time I saw her in D.C. years ago. All hail, Elder Schulman! Go for it!!
*well, that's some of what the dictionary says.
"I have always found this "elder" stuff kind of hokey." Yes. Related to the great American need to categorize ourselves. 'Cause certain younger-old people in our generation did not want to be like their mothers. Wanted to claim selves as perkier, more engaged. True but maybe would have been more to the point to reinvigorate oldness. Just sayin' ...
ReplyDelete"Perkier" and "more engaged." odious terms. Right along with "me day." Nurses always love to say you are "spry" if you can roll over unassisted. Another one that sticks in my craw.
ReplyDelete