A Letter to the Version of You in 2065: Ageing in a Second Language in Perth

Dear Me in 2065,

You are reading this in a second language.

Maybe English is still the language you use every day. But I wonder how your days feel now — whether English still comes naturally, or whether something else has quietly moved back to the front of your mind.

You are sitting in an aged-care activity room somewhere in Perth. Someone asks how you slept, and the words that arrive first are your mother's.

Maybe someone understands you.

Maybe they don't.

I hope there is a room where your language is still welcome. A room with familiar food, music, stories, and the sound of people who understand where you come from.

That room does not happen by accident.

It is shaped by the choices we make today.

Who Will Be There With You?

Forty years sounds distant, but it is already being decided. In Perth, about half of older residents were born overseas. You will not be the only one in that room hoping to be understood.

Today, the Association for Culturally Appropriate Services (AfCAS) is helping build that future, guided by its motto:

“Honour the Past. Celebrate the Now. Inspire the Future.”

It strengthens culturally appropriate care through training, mentoring, cultural engagement and connections between communities and care services, alongside partners across WA's care and language sector.

Small Choices, Ordinary Moments

Through the Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme, AfCAS connects older people from CALD backgrounds with volunteers who can offer companionship in a shared language.

Sometimes, making someone feel less alone begins with something very simple:

a conversation, a familiar voice, a warm cup of tea, or the company of someone who is not in a hurry.

Perhaps by 2065, you will not be reading these words yourself.

Perhaps a volunteer will be sitting beside you, holding this letter,

turning it back into the language of your childhood.

Perhaps that person is there because of a small choice someone made today.

But it takes more than one pair of hands. A volunteer, an intern, or someone offering professional skills can help AfCAS reach more people across Perth. Or it can be smaller than that — a cup of coffee, a slice of cake, a ride home.

Small choices create very ordinary moments.

Those everyday moments are exactly what make a community feel like home.

Dignity in Shared Moments

Somewhere along the way, I chose to show up too.

A little time. A little language. A little of myself.

And somewhere in those ordinary moments, some smiles made it all worthwhile.

And that's what I wish for you.

To still feel understood.

To still feel connected.

To still be part of the conviviality of a community.

I hope you know that you belong there.

👉 If you could send one sentence to yourself in 2065, what language would it be in, and what would you say? Share your words in the comments below. 💬

#ECUMKT5325 #TheDigitalMarketingCrew #socialmedia #digitalmarketing #AfCAS #AgedCare #BilingualVolunteers #VolunteerPerth #CALDCare

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(Disclaimer: This content is for the sole purpose of teaching and learning at Edith Cowan University.)