A lifelong pursuit of learning

Learning isn't a matter of age, it's a matter of attitude. For 86-year old Westbridge Assisted Living resident Lilo Fefferman, attending classes in her native tongue is an opportunity to reacquaint herself with her heritage.

"I was born in Germany and we came to the United States in 1939 when I was just 18 years old," said Lilo. At that time, she and her family declared their intent to become U.S. citizens, but there was a five-year waiting period.

"I was so nervous when they asked us questions in English during our citizenship test, but we passed and it was wonderful to become American citizens," she said.

Lilo later met her husband, who worked in Washington D.C. and they settled in Maryland to raise their two sons. "My husband didn't speak a word of German and when my father died in 1969, I no longer had anyone with whom to speak German," she said.

After her husband passed away in late 2006, Lilo decided to move closer to her son, who lives in Wheaton. At her new home on the Wyndemere Senior Living Campus, Lilo discovered a renewed desire to reacquaint herself with her native tongue.

"I try to walk every day and while I was walking at Westbridge, I met a caregiver for a woman who was born near Munich," said Lilo. "My new friend wanted me to talk to her companion in German, but I found I had forgotten a lot. If you don't use the language.you lose it and I knew I had to do something about it."

Lilo began attending adult German classes every Friday night at a local church. Two of her grandchildren, who are 7 and 15, attend beginning level German classes as well.

"I'm in class with people who are as old as my children, but I enjoy learning with younger people." says Lilo, who has a penchant for language. She learned French, English and Spanish in school while she was in Germany. "I'm having a good time and I look forward to the class each week. It's important for older people to take every opportunity to keep learning."