GENuine Connections: Bridging the Generational Gap

During the summer, I started looking for some volunteer opportunities. I had a little bit more free time, and wanted to spend it doing something for the community. My mom mentioned a program she used to participate in, called DOROT. After a bit of research, I learned about a program called GENuine connections. This is a zoom-based weekly meeting where seniors can connect in various ways with teen volunteers. There are countless different workshops, including chess, brain games, music, and many more. I landed upon Thursday Story Circles, a group that shares personal anecdotes based on different prompts every week.

After the first session, I instantly fell in love. I’ll be the first to admit that I doubted how much I would actually enjoy DOROT, but any preconceptions I had of what might have been were rewritten. Story Circles became a place where I was more than comfortable to share very personal stories from my life, almost like a therapy session! I talked about friendships, family relationships, my grandpa, my school life, and much more. Interestingly enough, I found that many of the struggles I had experienced in my life were shared with the senior citizens I spoke with.

Then the unthinkable happened.

In the third week, our prompt was to talk about “a great waiting.” In my smaller group, I shared the pain of waiting for my grandpa to pass, about accepting that his death was a final destination of comfort.

The next person to speak was an older adult, Sandra, an amazing woman I later came to know better. She spoke of a very similar experience, and told a story of her late wife’s passing. She described how the doctor told them her partner’s disease was “exactly as the name described, progressive.”

Hearing that sentence, my heart stopped. I had never met anyone who had experienced losing someone to PSP. If you’ve read my story, you already know that my Poppy passed away in 2020 from a rare neurological disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). While Sandra hadn’t explicitly said it, I couldn’t help but assume that it was PSP she was speaking of.

Immediately after the session, I emailed the host of the group for Sandra’s contact information, desperate to get in touch with her. After a few days, I received an email, confirming my suspicions. I wasn’t sure how to feel- should I have been happy? I now had someone to speak with who could truly understand. But how could this be anything but a tragedy, another wonderful person taken away by a cruel disease. In this haze of mixed emotions, I cried.

Sandra and I talked on the phone later that week and got to know each other better. I am honored to call her a friend, and am beyond grateful that the universe put us in touch. I’m constantly amazed by the way the world works- giving you the people you never knew you needed.

Sandra very generously offered to share her story with all of you, and it is now available in the Our Stories page.