By Myles Crane, Delaney McNally, and Jody Shadduck-McNally
During a festive family gathering several years ago, William Shadduck (1941-2019), a loving grandfather loudly raised his voice, “Would you all please get off your phones and pads and talk to me? I have been gone for months (recently back from a rehab hospital after a fall) and not seen much of you and want to talk with each of you.” Stunned by what she had heard, 12 year old granddaughter Delaney McNally looked around the room observing most of her relatives were in fact on their mobile devices and not communicating in person with each other.
In the weeks ahead, Delaney continued to talk to her parents about social isolation and the generational impact of social media. Delaney subsequently decided to research a project with a purpose to get youth engaged in an intentional way talking with their grandparents, their families, their neighbors and community to bridge the communication gap across generations
Soon Delaney was interviewing older adults asking them about their childhood, personal values, thoughts and experiences to live a meaningful life. “Generation Connect” was subsequently created from the foregoing experiences and various community volunteer service projects.
Three successful Intergenerational Conversations (IGC) events have been held in Loveland this past year. On Saturday October 26th, 9-11 am, “Let’s Talk,” the first IGC event is at the Fort Collins Senior Center, 1200 Raintree Drive. Facilitated by CSU’s Center for Public Deliberation, youth 14-22 will sit at round tables with older adults predominantly 59+ in stimulating conversation about topics of mutual interest. The event is open to the public and light refreshments are served. Registration is required at https://www.pafclarimer.org/conversations or call 970-461-7736.