一位浪子回頭高齡村長的生命敘事

The Life Narrative of an Elderly Prodigal Son Back to the Village Head

老，是每個人必經的生命過程，從生命敘事中能讓人覺察一生重要轉折，從中找出生命的價值。本研究的研究參與者為一位68歲居住於南投中寮偏鄉的高齡村長。本研究之主要目的，乃在透過受訪者的生命敘事，了解其生命歷程的變化與成長。透過訪談資料之分析，研究者獲得以下之結果：受訪者（1）童年生活無憂無慮，深受父母寵愛；（2）求學階段因體諒父母親的辛勞而加倍努力，成績優異；（3）婚姻生活從平順到疏離，人生逆境開始出現；（4）工作表現傑出，但因交到損友而酗酒成性；（5）妻子以死相諫，令其悔恨莫及；（6）晚年抱著「要替妻子活下去」的贖罪心情，積極服務村民。透過生命回顧，受訪者從自我探索、自我覺察與自我反思的過程中，自我救贖，並活出精彩。受訪者的生命敘事印證了浪子回頭金不換的定律，也為其生命統整做了最好的詮釋，而其積極服務村民的行動，也彰顯活躍老化的動力。

Aging is a life process that everyone must go through. From the life narrative, people can perceive important transitions in their lives and find the value of life. The research participant in this study was a 68-year-old village head who lived in a rural township in Zhongliao, Nantou. The main purpose of this study was to understand the changes and growth of the interviewee's life course through his life narrative. Through the analysis of interview data, the following results were as follows: (1) The interviewee's childhood life was carefree and he was well-loved by parents; (2) At the school stage, he strived efforts to gain excellent achievements in return to his parents' hard work; (3) The interviewee's marriage life changed from smooth to alienation with a start of life adversity; (4) The interviewee performed well at work, but became a drunkard because of making bad friends; (5) The interviewee had deep regret because his wife remonstrated with death; (6) In his later years, he had a sense of atonement that he wanted to live for his wife and actively served the villagers. Based on the life review, the interviewee identified and redeemed himself through the process of self-exploration, self-awareness and self-reflection. The interviewee's life narrative proved the proverb of the prodigal son's returning to gold, and provided the best interpretation of his life integration. He also manifested the power of actively aging by participating in public services.