They arrive at their intergenerational day care center five mornings a week, dropped off by parents and adult children on their way to work.
They are seniors with cognitive impairment, and children from 3 months old up to age 5 spending their days as neighbors only steps apart.
For one hour a day, they come together and bond. It’s something beautiful and awesome to see.
Age can steal a mind, but it can’t steal what’s in your heart.
“Our seniors with cognitive impairment won’t remember what they did in that hour, but they remember the children,” said Julyann (cq) Marquez, a program specialist for the ONEgeneration Intergenerational Daycare Center in Van Nuys.
“One lady gets watery-eyed every time she holds a baby in her arms. She’s not able to express what she’s thinking, but it’s very emotional,” Julyann said.
Are they tears of joy or sadness, though? Julyana had to find out. Holding sadness in your arms was not part of the program.
“I talked to her family members and learned throughout her life whenever she held a baby she was so happy she’d tear up.”
Margarita and Janine (l-r) spend time with babies Makayla and Leona while participating in the Intergenerational Program at ONEgeneration in Van Nuys, CA.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
On the day we talked, a little girl recoiled when she saw a new bandage on the hand of her senior. Was he okay, she asked? Assured he was, she ran to him and gave him a big hug in his wheelchair.
His eyes came alive. It was Christmas morning again and his kids were opening their presents and giving him a hug.
Never underestimate the magical power of a child’s arms.
“One of the big pluses of the program is when these children get older and see someone on a walker or in a wheelchair out in public they’ll have learned to be respectful and gentle with them,” Julyann said.
Less than a mile away from the intergenerational day care center is the ONEgeneration Senior Enrichment Center, also on Victory Boulevard, where a different type of generational class was beginning.
It’s called “Sages and Seekers.” High school students — the seekers — are paired with active seniors — the sages — for a game of life called “have you ever?”
Could a 17-year-old boy actually have something in common with an 85-year-old woman he doesn’t know? Absolutely. Before long, they’re laughing about blind dates and the different fashions of their eras.
Margarita and Makayla listen to a book while participating in the Intergenerational Program at ONE Generation in Van Nuys, CA.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)
There’s plenty of common ground with the generations if you want to find it, and ONEgeneration has.
“By the end of the program, they’ve become so comfortable together we’re not needed to help facilitate the conversation,” Julyana said.
“It’s like they’re talking with a friend, not a senior citizen they had no idea they would have so much in common with. They’ve learned empathy and compassion through conversation.”
They put down their smartphones and began to talk face-to-face candidly. There’s a lot of life out there sages can teach seekers.
Coming up on Saturday, April 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Encino Farmers Market location is ONEgeneration’s “Encino Food and Wine Festival.” For more information, go online to encinofoodwinefestival.org
The fundraiser is located at 17400 Victory Boulevard, the same address where five mornings a week, 30 parents drop off their babies and children, and grown children drop off their cognitively-impaired mother or father for day care while they’re at work.
Neighbors generations apart, but only a few, magical steps away.
Dennis McCarthy’s column runs on Sunday. He can be reached at dmccarthynews@gmail.com.
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