Elders, they're good n' plenty

My first friend in America was Ruth Henderson, a small, bright-eyed woman with soft white curls around her face. I had arrived in Oregon from England during the spring of first grade, and Ruth was one of the first people at school not to bother me for my accent. From the onset of our first discussion we commenced a dear friendship. She was 93. Despite her age Ruth was agile and vibrant. I went for tea at her home on a few occasions and can remember vividly the smells, her artwork and books stacked on the walls and shelves and the life in her voice when she told me stories of world travel. Even as I got older Ruth would visit me in my other classrooms when she would come back to volunteer for the first grade reading program; One day she brought me a little jewelery box filled with good n' plenties and a tiny gold ring with a small ruby embedded. I still wear it now, on my pinkie. I still remember Ruth everyday, though it's not because of the ring, it's because she was my first memorable mentor.

Perhaps I was a strange child, but I have always loved intergenerational closeness. It seems to me that elders and youth share a sweet, mutual sub-didactic. That is, there is a great deal of communication, learning and engaging - on a very elemental level. There have been times that I have connected deeply with an elder in the absence of a common language. Youth need elders, and elders need youth. It is a basic and age old formula.

Fez Orator tells a story to a group of young men. Morocco, 2007. -RT

Yet, we have forgotten. Western custom today dictates separation between ages. Kids in school are separated by age, rather than passion and our elderly are politely put away in retirement homes. It is my humble opinion that placing our Grandparents and Parents in homes only diminishes prospects of longevity. It cuts them off from life.

I just read about a superb program in Oklahoma, where they built a preschool classroom encased in glass, in the heart of The Grace Living Center, a Retirement home foyer. The retirees were naturally interested in the sprightly kids and some offered to volunteer time. That being so, Book Buddies was conceived; a partnership of elders and preschoolers who read to them aloud. The reading levels have since soared and many of the retirees diminished their doses of medication as a result of surging levels of vitality.

Are we tapping into our intergenerational treasure-chest enough? I don't think so. I believe it is an essential move in fostering greater understanding in an era when things are changing more quickly than we know how to grasp. We need the dialogue and shared learning between generations; A first grader can give technological support to a 90 year old, and the elder can help the child master reading, listening and the ever-valuable offering of engagement.

You can read more about the Grace Living Center partnership with Oklahoma Public Schools ain this edutopia article, or where I discovered the story, in Sir Ken Robinson's book; 'The Element; How finding your Passion can Change Everything.'