When my youngest son told me about his phone call with his fishing reel repair buddy who is about three times his age, I thought it sounded a lot like the barber shop scene in the movie El Torino.  I knew their friendship is true, and richer for both of them because of the age differential.

The other day, a neighbor and I agreed that we had just formed a new crappie fishing partnership.  He is 20 years my senior. I’m looking forward to our time together.

Friendships and relationships bring wisdom to the younger, and youthfulness and energy to the older.  My mom, who was 40 when I was born, said that my late arrival kept her young.  Businesses, chambers, organizations and associations can benefit, too, like all individuals by being inter-generational in relationship building.

After delivering a staff development workshop for a local church, I was pleasantly surprised when the pastor thanked me for my comments about inter-generational.  “That is much better than ‘cross-generational’,” he said.  I instinctively felt that to be true, but his comment gave me pause for thought, so I investigated. To “cross” generations is to connect them, like two sides of a river connected by a bridge. “Inter” infers more of a mingling.  According to Dictionary.com, inter (Latin) means, “between,” “among,” “in the midst of,” “mutually,” “reciprocally,” “together” and “during.”

Inter-generational relationships, conversations and connections allow us to be “in the midst of” stories, wisdom, humor, insights and perspectives from outside our zone of familiarity; those are priceless.

Reach across the years in meaningful ways to enrich your life and broaden your perspectives.