Between Generations
By
Gerry Niskern
The King and Queen of the Prom dropped in last week. We shared a pizza and two or three of hours of good conversation.
Actually, they were “royalty” in their Senior year of high school, but now she’s a third year Med major at ASU and her boyfriend is studying to be a Physical Therapist. What did we find in common to talk about? Everything under the sun. And since I had a lifetime of medical history to contribute, a lot was about “Current Medications and Pertinent Medical History”, of course!
My great-granddaughter was full of information about subjects she is studying. She just finished her EMT training; reminded me to keep a card on the frig with all medications listed in case of emergency. The boyfriend is working as a tech at a Physical Therapy facility downtown while he’s enrolled at ASU. He had some stories to tell too.
“How did these two generations on each end of the spectrum, from the Y’s-20’s all the way to the Silent Generation-70’s + find things to talk about,” I asked myself later? My granddaughter reminisced about family memories. She recalled trips to the Phoenix Children’s theatre and as I chimed in, the boyfriend did too with memories of his own. I can’t begin to mention all the subjects we covered. I was interested in their opinions and they in mine also. But the refreshing part of the whole afternoon was two subjects we did not cover: religion and politics.
My generation, the Silents, are still learning the new technology . The Y’s grew up with iphones, computers and all the rest and take it for granted. No one had to whip out their phones to check another’s statement as all the generations in between are prone to do.
But what encourages leisurely and meaningful conversation between the different ages is the example that their parents have set. If kids grow up seeing their parents enjoying the company of “their” parents and grandparents, it leads the way. Lucky are the “Silents”, like myself, who have family members of all ages who genuinely like to come by for good conversations!