Why We Need Intergenerational Relationships

[Applause]

life doesn’t make sense without

interdependence

we need one another and the sooner we

learn that the better for us all

was said by the famed psychologist eric

erickson

and unfortunately we’re still struggling

to live up to those words today

because we’ve allowed our society to

isolate age groups

resulting in misconnections between

generations

there’s an age-old belief that the young

and older generations are meant to be at

odds with one another

youth are often seen as misunderstood

while the older community is often seen

as outdated

this thinking however only drives us

apart

so we decided to challenge these

generational divisions

by looking for ways to connect with the

older community

we started by visiting our local senior

center a few times a week

and our lives were quickly enhanced by

stories showed over lunches

and friendships we need over card games

we had now interacted with members of

our community

that we otherwise never would have met

but when we wanted to share this

experience with others our age

we’re surprised to receive few yeses and

more

wise our experience went a little

like this why would i want to hang out

with old people

what would we talk about wouldn’t that

be awkward

would we have anything in common why

would i want to hang out with raisins

[Laughter]

as far as we’re concerned raisins are

nothing more than the unwanted leftovers

and our trail mix

and act

[Music]

and actually interactions between

generations can forge meaningful

friendships

and mentorships for both parties

involved

in both of our lives we had missed out

on building these meaningful

relationships

largely because we didn’t seek out

opportunities to interact but when we

did

we learned that there’s a lot that we

can learn from the life experiences

of others so this is an open letter to

our generation

start seeking relationships with the

older community

and take the time to learn from the life

experiences of someone else

you might be wondering why do the 18

year olds in front of you today

believe that we need intergenerational

interdependence

well the woman beside us today is our

why

meet margaret first off

she is the most competitive rummy player

we’ve ever met

and no matter the outcome of any game i

can promise you she’ll be cracking jokes

at the end

win or lose and i can also promise you

that you can almost always finding her

find her rocking a bright a pair of

bright yellow crocs

when we first met margaret over a year

ago we quickly bonded over card games

while she shared stories of her past

from working in the fbi

raising a family and our own path to

self-discovery we fell in love with her

quirky personality and warm heart

and our friendship with margaret became

one of the most meaningful friendships

we’ve ever had

recently however our lives seemed to

take a turn for the worse

or so we had thought when the

coronavirus pandemic first hit

all the important life milestones that

we had been told to look forward to as

high school seniors

had quickly slipped away and it felt

like it all happened

within a matter of seconds life had gone

harder for margaret as well

she told us about how the simple task

going grocery shopping

had quickly become a daunting one to

make matters worse

we couldn’t see margaret in person

anymore in fear of contributing to the

spread of the virus

while the quarantine started extremely

difficult and isolating for us

it didn’t actually end up feeling that

way because of our friendship with

margaret

she encouraged us to look for the

opportunity in these unprecedented times

and helped us look at our situation from

a new angle

so when our interactions were forced to

shift the phone calls

margaret guided us in ways that none of

our peers could have

because instead all of our minds were

clouded by the disappointing prospects

of reimagined high school milestones

like graduation and prom so

instead together we plan the most exotic

prom scenarios over the phone from her

favorite idea of a jello themed dance

to what we ultimately settled on a

social distance parking lot prom with

our friends

if it wasn’t for margaret’s friendship

and guidance we likely

would have never been able to approach

the pandemic from a new and creative

angle and a lot of the memorable

experiences that we were able to have

might have never happened

in turn margaret says our friendship

quote restored her faith

in young people because nowadays us

older folks have the demand for young

people to even acknowledge us

it doesn’t matter how old you are now

when you miss out on

a chance to form human connections you

miss out on an opportunity

to learn from the life experiences of

someone else

with our friendship with margaret she

brought a whole new perspective into our

lives

that was shaped by the experiences she’s

already had

margaret says that growing up she didn’t

have many people telling her

that she could be whatever she wanted so

she tries to relay this message forward

to us

in hopes that we can see the world as

full of opportunities despite whatever

challenges we might be facing

marker introduced us to many more

amazing members of our community

we met one woman charmaine who watched

the civil rights movement unfold in

birmingham

and later at the age of 60 went back to

college to learn more about it

we also met sandy a woman who started

her own bread and breakfast

and at the age of 72 found her new

passion

for bungee jumping

we also met pauline a woman

who endured countless years of gender

discrimination in order to pave the way

for herself

and several other women in geology a

field once traditionally

dominated by men through all the

experiences that we’ve had and the

people we met

we learned one really important thing

something as simple

and inevitable as age should have no say

in which human connections we learn from

inform

and we can assure you there is so much

to be learned

so the next time that you hear the

phrase okay boomer

i want you to think about how we’re

stronger when we realize that we can

actually be on the same team

i want you to think about jane fonda and

greta tunberg who are simultaneously

fighting climate change together

despite being generations apart i want

you to think about the 60s

and how today’s civil rights leaders are

looking to leaders of the past

we don’t need these dismissive

generational divisions

because more often than not we’re

working for the same outcomes and goals

one thing that stuck out to us the most

was that when we wanted to share

stories with our new friends they didn’t

give us all the specifics

of what they did or when exactly they

did it but instead

they shared memories with the people in

their lives and the human connections

they made along the way

but just because these connections might

be missing from our lives right now

doesn’t mean they have to be

so if we can lean on each other

and dip into the resources that

different generations have to offer

whether it’s through new perspectives or

wisdom that comes with time

we can recognize intergenerational

interdependence

as an invaluable asset to our society

but more than just encouraging you to go

out there and build generational

relationships

we urge you to actively seek out

intergenerational friendships

no matter which side of the age spectrum

you are on

[Applause]

you