By Genevieve Vickers
Voices Radio Hour
Genevieve Vickers enjoys writing, reading, theater and music. She is 13 years old and in eighth grade at Ross Montessori.
“What are you looking forward to?” This was the prompt of a conversation I helped lead at the Sopris Lodge retirement home in Carbondale. The opportunity to help guide the conversation came from Voices, a nonprofit art education program in Carbondale. Sopris Lodge is a retirement facility located in the heart of town, where residents enjoy a comfortable living space and a fun assortment of activities to choose from.
Voices has done various projects such as “Nuestras Voices”, “Women’s Voices”, and “Sage Voices.” The latter was a theater project that brought together kids from the community and its wise elders.
A peer of mine, Anyelin, and I met with four residents at Sopris Lodge, who ranged from 80 to 90 years young. Two of our hosts participated in last spring’s production of “Sage Voices.”
The community outreach and education director of Voices, Cassidy Willey, reached out to me, and my fellow moderator, with the vague question which she assured would inspire more conversation: “What are you looking forward to?” From there, we came up with a series of questions revolving around that same theme. When the time came, Anyelin and I were both intrigued and found the discussion very insightful.
When we arrived at Sopris Lodge, we were greeted by Jennifer Johnson, the executive director of SoL Theater Company. Johnson was tasked with recording the conversation, so it could later be aired on KDNK Community Access Radio.
My partner and I started the conversation with the question, you guessed it, “What are you looking forward to?” As Wiley promised, it sparked a wonderful discussion about what to cherish in life and who to spend it with.
We discussed multiple thoughts around the theme, which ranged from personal stories to even political standpoints. Anyelin and I asked how participants might prepare for what they were looking forward to, and who they would want to share adventures with. Each person offered interesting answers.
One resident repeatedly mentioned looking forward to spending time with her son and grandchildren. Others were excited to see a political change, and some were simply looking forward to getting to know others better. One offered us some advice, to always stay curious, live in the moment and be willing to go with the flow.
The sages reminded us to stay close and connected to our family members, especially our grandparents. The time with grandparents, especially for a young person, can feel rushed and later, as we were told, we’d wish we had made the most of it.
What I learned most from the conversation is to listen. Everyone has something to say — the kids of the community and the sages. Working in an intergenerational environment is a wonderful way to promote change and learn from the past. It’s important to listen to the people who led us to where we are, as well as those who are poised to take on the problems of tomorrow, and who will later provide wisdom to a forthcoming generation as well.
Hearing everyone’s point of view is the key to building a better world. “Sage Voices” was a wonderful way to introduce multiple opinions from people on opposite sides of the age-scale. Young people can learn things from the way the world used to be, and the old and wise can learn to adjust to major changes in the world which everyone is navigating.
I’ll end this column with a query you can reflect on, “What are you looking forward to?”
Tune in for Voices Radio Hour to hear this discussion between young and old on Friday, Jan. 12 at 6pm, only on KDNK.
