Last school holidays, I took my daughter to Hong Kong, my birthplace and home for the first eight years of my life. I had taken her plenty of times before, but every visit had been fleeting. Accommodation is expensive, so we usually stay just enough to share a meal or two with close family. The reason for an extended stay came when my grandfather died last year. My grandmother had just lost her husband of seven decades, and as she is in her 90s herself,
In my private practice, I work with a grandmother who feels like she worries "too much" about her teenage granddaughter. She often feels that when she visits with her adult children and grandchildren, as much as she loves seeing them, she always leaves worrying more and more about things that her granddaughter is doing. Her granddaughter's struggles with friendships, her reliance on social media, and worries about her future in today's uncertain world sit squarely on this grandmother's shoulders.
Navigating the distribution of heirlooms requires sensitivity to each recipient's desires. It's important to acknowledge a family member's perspective while also respecting one’s own attachment to those items.
The trip was filled with unexpected moments, but we connected deeply, proving that travel can forge bonds regardless of age, helping us understand each other better.
The complexities of our contemporary social fabric reveal a paradox: while we are the most age-diverse society, we are also profoundly age-segregated by institutions and policies.