Meet the Author of "When We Were Growing Up” at Spring Hills Cherry Hill Luxury Assisted Living

New Jersey writer Pat Pattan will share charming and nostalgic stories based on the vivid recollections of sixteen seniors she interviewed from all around North America, at a lively chat and signing for her book “When We Were Growing Up.” The event is free to the public and Pattan will sell signed copies of her book. It will take place at Spring Hills Cherry Hill Luxury Assisted Living on Tuesday, March 26, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. The residence is located at 1450 Marlton Pike East, just west of the intersection of Routes 70 and 295. Reservations are required by calling 856-874-7700. 

Pattan, a resident of Jackson, NJ, has filled her book with many events that will be very relatable to the generation who were children before World War 2. This meet-and-greet event includes an interactive discussion based on anecdotes from her book “When We Were Growing Up.” Pattan’s presentation is the first in a new Spring Hills Signature Touches program known as Enrichment Through Literature.  It is offered in Spring Hills Senior Communities throughout the nation. “Pat Pattan is an ideal example of a writer who will get our residents and guests to value the treasures hidden in their own life stories,” explained Spring Hills Cherry Hill Executive Director Heather Tussing. “She reminds us of the amazing changes in our world during the lifetimes of our residents.” 

Pattan herself is fascinating story because this New Jersey author began her book at the stage in life when others retire, and offers a source of inspiration for others in the audience. She grew up in on the prairie in Canada and moved to the U.S.A. as a young adult. She explained how stories from her book quickly get people involved, saying “All I have to mention is deliveries from the ice man, stinky home permanents or the stars of 1940’s radio dramas and immediately, the memories start flowing in my audiences.” A writer of advertising copy in Ocean County and a former school teacher, Pattan was born in 1943 and was inspired to interview folks just a bit older to preserve a portrait of childhood that has largely disappeared. “It’s not just a rosy picture of ‘the good old days.’ This is a generation that is proud of how adaptable they are, because they had no choice. Their childhoods were often defined by the poverty of The Great Depression and global war. Their stories allowed me to hear first-hand about terrible experience of social injustice. I was glad to document the sacrifices of their times, because it often explains why seniors hold certain values to be very important.”