title: Time and a waning moon: seniors describe the meaning to later life.
abstract: Six hundred older Canadians wrote narratives about the meaning of being a senior. The narratives were analyzed and descriptions of simile, paradox, and humor were extracted. Two paradoxical experiences--sameness-yet-difference and restriction-yet-expansion--were described as seniors shared the mystery of later life. They specified three aspects of humor to shed light on human ways of creating strength and joy: personal humor as essential for survival and as a means of making light of personal frailties, and shared humor as a source of joy and entertainment.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016294:Models, Nursing; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic