Caring requires a multifaceted knowing of another person's needs and the ability to respond to those needs. Aging in our society can be an isolating process with wide gaps between the perceived realities of young care givers and older persons in need of care. Personal stories teach about one's reality. Shared storytelling often softens the boundaries between different realities, allowing each to know the other more wholly within the context of mutual humanness. Inviting elders to voice their stories requires health care providers to reflectively listen with their heart and head. The rhythm of aging storytellers modulates between a slow remembering and a sharply defined knowing. Their stories are often punctuated by chaotic detail that often in the telling become a lyrical flow of wisdom. Finding the wisdom and meaning in a story's detail requires collaborative cadence between the storyteller and listener. This fosters a merging of the two realities, a movement toward synthesis. Interpreting story through poetic reflection is one way to capture the essence of another's reality, allowing the stillness of the truth to emerge from the detail. Sharing poetic interpretation with the aging storyteller, in turn, both validates the listening and further broadens the connection between two human beings. The process invites further dialogue, enriching the opportunity for growth and change. The representative poems are part of the nurse researcher's analysis through poetic reflections on elderly adults' stories from different settings about their experience of growing old. The process illustrates a holistic approach to nursing practice through shared aesthetic knowing.
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