“Many times, tremendous value lies in what we push aside as worthless.”
Florence Horne is a retired teacher and was a researcher on a project with the State Department of Education of New Jersey studying the effects of music and art on learning and development. She is a participant in the photography project Age Looks at Aging and is the mother of three sons. She holds the honor of being the eldest contributor thus far to the Epiphany project and currently resides in Santa Monica, California. (www.AgeLooksAtAging.com)
The Interview
I met Florence through my photographer friend Brian Braff, who is currently doing a project called Age Looks at Aging. Brian gave still cameras to many of the residents of the Gardens of Santa Monica and Ocean House, two assisted-living communities in Santa Monica, California, and asked them to record with their cameras their experiences of aging. Florence is ninety-one but looks much younger, and is just as “with it” and stimulating as Brian told me. She had only been living in the assisted- living community for a few months when we conducted the interview in her room on the day of the photography exhibit opening. Not only is her photography marvelous and insightful, but the many stories and wisdom she shared with me were beautiful.
