The Beautiful Letdown

A breastfeeding blog that dabbles in tandem, extended nursing, gentle parenting and much more

Multi Generation Friendships

November10

Wanted:  One friend old enough to be my mother or grand­mother.  Must like to talk about her­self and her fam­ily.  Must have opin­ions to share.  Must be will­ing to share ideas and thoughts about both her life and mine.

For a while now I have been think­ing about this topic.  I feel like I am miss­ing the friend­ship and knowl­edge of older women.  Right now, as I’m in the midst of try­ing to make wise choices about finances, grow in my faith, pre­pare healthy and tasty meals for my fam­ily, raise two boys, and con­sis­tently grow and improve my rela­tion­ship with my hus­band, I think I could use a friend like this.

I have many incred­i­ble aunts, a great mom, a great mother-in-law, and friends my age who I can talk to about the things I listed above.  I’m look­ing for some­one in my area who I can invite over for tea or cof­fee.  I’m look­ing for a friend who can pop over while she’s out run­ning errands.

Do any of you have friend­ships like this?  Any thoughts?  Have you found this to be ben­e­fi­cial for both you and your friend?  If you don’t have a friend like this have you ever thought about it?  Does any­one else feel like it would be so amaz­ingly great to have some­one to talk to about these sorts of things?

posted under General
4 Comments to

“Multi Generation Friendships”

  1. On November 10th, 2009 at 11:51 pm Leela Says:

    I would love a rela­tion­ship like this. I have a few friends whom I would like to cul­ti­vate to be that way but not sure how to make the time for it. We are geo­graph­i­cally far enough away that it means dri­ving time and they don’t do email or talk on the phone that much.

    I met some­one, 92, won­der­ful lady a few weeks ago — I would like to cul­ti­vate her rela­tion­ship some­how too.

  2. On November 11th, 2009 at 5:59 pm Kate Says:

    I used to teach in the class­room next to a great friend for four years. Then I moved and she retired. She was my sound­ing board, a fine exam­ple of a Chris­t­ian woman, and my mom away from home. I miss her.

  3. On November 16th, 2009 at 1:12 pm Rachel Says:

    that is won­der­ful that you rec­og­nize the need! We need multi-generation friend­ships! I watched my mother make friends with the elderly women in our neigh­bor­hood and spent hours play­ing with toys at their house while my mom drank tea with them. Prob­a­bly met the needs of both my mother (in her mid-20s) and the elderly women.

    I found a woman while I was in col­lege through a Bible study. She was able to pro­vide moth­erly advice I could han­dle because she wasn’t my mother.

    Other options are a Ladies’ Aid sewing group, Gar­den Club, senior cen­ter or ask a woman a church. Some­times elderly peo­ple think they’re not needed and forth­right­ness is required.

    Look­ing for­ward to hear­ing how this is going.

    And a good reminder that I should find someone.

  4. On November 16th, 2009 at 1:13 pm Rachel Says:

    another option is to host a christ­mas tea and only invite the neigh­bor­hood ladies. Maybe one of them will click with you. Kinda like speed dat­ing only it’s over tea and with elderly women. :)