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Tell The Story Of Your Life

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By HAROLD VALENTINE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2007

CARROLLWOOD - A new program through the University of South Florida's SeniorNet program, LifeBio.com, has seniors writing about their lives.

The idea behind LifeBio is to jog the memories of seniors through a series of questions to illicit a life story to share with the family.

Tom Kochansky, a 68-year-old Northdale resident, teaches LifeBio. Kochansky, a retired engineer, has taught with SeniorNet for two years and said seniors are good students.

'Seniors are willing to learn, particularly those that are retired teachers,' Kochansky said. 'With LifeBio it's not so much teaching as much as facilitating discussions.'

Kochansky, who has taught two LifeBio classes, said one student had no idea why anyone would want to hear his story. 'But the more he went on,' Kochansky said, 'the more we wanted to hear.'

Kochansky is accepting attendees for the next class, 9 a.m. to noon on Fridays, beginning this week through Nov. 16 at Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church, 2902 W. Fletcher Ave. He said the class can handle about 10 students, and only four have signed up so far.

Jo Anne Sanderson, 72, who has been with SeniorNet for nearly 13 years, said LifeBio has been one of the more enjoyable classes. She said that as students share their stories, other seniors recall moments of their lives.

'The LifeBio questions trigger your memories,' Sanderson said, 'like what was your first experience driving a car?'

Kochansky said the first activity of the class includes the window exercise, which entails imagining oneself as a child at home looking out a window. The question, 'What do you see?'

Sanderson, who grew up in southwest Iowa until she was 5, said she saw a herd of dairy cows and a barn, which she said elicited many other memories. Sanderson is a teaching coach and hopes soon to share her story with her family.

However, Kochansky, a published author and a student of LifeBio as well, said that with the program's 200-plus questions sometimes comes a seemingly inexhaustible amount of memories, 'so you're constantly editing your life story.'

Kochansky said LifeBio, a small Ohio-based business launched in 2001, provides an account writers can access any time. PDF files are provided to writers when they are ready to have their stories printed. For an additional fee, LifeBio will do it for writers. Kochansky said writers may sign with LifeBio independent of SeniorNet but said learning the software in class and sharing stories are crucial for many seniors.

The class cost $85, which includes a LifeBio account, materials and membership with USF's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, which hosts SeniorNet.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: LifeBio, offered through USF's SeniorNet program to help seniors share their life stories.

WHERE: Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church, 2902 W. Fletcher Ave.

WHEN: 9 a.m. to noon, Oct. 12 to Nov. 16

INFORMATION: Call (813) 974-5848 or go to www.usf seniors.org.

Reporter Harold Valentine can be reached at (813) 865-1526 or hvalentine@tampatrib.com.

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