For Seniors : LINDA FELDMAN : Having the Time of Their Life Writing the Times of Their Lives

Ethel Schatz says she has a complex. She always feels she’s the youngest person in the room--no matter whom she’s with.

Schatz 78, seems thrilled with life, and that attitude has rubbed off on the students, 60 and older, who took her journal-writing class two years ago and continue to meet with her informally today.

Consider Ruby. Her husband died a few months ago. She, like the others, has been keeping a journal, writing at home and reading the material in class.

“All I could see in screaming, blinking lights was the word ‘widow,’ which, for me, meant my life was over,” she said. “The people who I thought would be supportive reacted like I had a plague and I was busy making them feel comfortable. But the journal group, they came through for me, even when I said negative things about my husband.”

In Ethel Schatz’s group everything is considered relevant, the good with the bad.

Schatz, a former English teacher, started keeping her own journal in 1978.

“I have a lot of wonderful family stories, and when my grandchildren would crawl into bed with me, they would beg me to tell them the stories of when I was a bad girl,” she said. “Who would tell these stories when I died? So I started writing them down. I didn’t care how I wrote but what I wrote, and this is what I tell my students.”

Schatz’s students originally met as part of a class sponsored by Santa Monica-based Senior Health and Peer Counseling. When the term was over no one wanted to leave, and the group has been meeting weekly ever since.

“Many, in the beginning, thought they couldn’t write. I would say, ‘If you can talk you can write. You don’t learn to write, you write to learn,’ ” Schatz said. “Our goal is to change and grow, and writing the history of our times--customs, social life--is also about opening a window into yourself, which is the best gift you can give to yourself.”

Schatz’s eyes light up when she talks about her students.

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For instance, there’s Erica: “When she came in she read about a medical diagnosis of a disease she had and now it’s as if she’s not sick at all,” Schatz said.

Lydia: “She’s the oldest at 81. She couldn’t express her feelings, only facts, and now she is able to express how she feels.”

And, of course, Ruby: “She thought no one was interested in what she wrote about, and now, with her wit and talent exposed, she always shares her work.”

What keeps the group together is trust. It’s more than a journal writing group. It’s a growth group. According to Dr. James Birren, associate director of the UCLA Center on Aging, you’re never too old to grow or grow up.

Birren originated autobiography as a technique for senior citizens to examine their inner life and at the same time leave a legacy for their families. Birren, the author of “Guiding Autobiography Groups for Older Adults: Exploring the Fabric of Life,” said: “You don’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been. Writing about the past frees you up to deal with the future and expand future relationships with other people.”

Such benefits are what keep Schatz’s group together. Said Schatz: “I think when we are on our deathbeds we’re going to say we can’t go because we haven’t finished our journals.”