A couple of months ago, my boss linked me up with Felicia who worked with elderly in the community (Cluster Support/CREST). She invited her colleague Eng Fong. Our interns Rachel, Louisa and new staff Fadilah joined us. I've done TOL many times but wondered how this intergenerational group would come together. In brief, the group created their trees, shared it with the group, and wrote letters to each other (new worker->seasoned worker->new worker) and read them out in a touching ceremony.
The letter to them below and some of their thoughts lets you into a very special exchange.
Dear all,
Thank you so much for your full participation, your steps in openness and generosity in sharing your heart and stories gave rise to so many beautiful moments, in the Oasis room as well as in my Imagination. I really appreciated meeting other workers from THK which are working so hard for the community. Really liked the camaraderie!
Exchange between younger workers and senior workers
This tree of life turned out to be an intergenerational exchange of young workers and senior workers and I really appreciated how you all were moved by each other's words and how those words could make a difference to you or your future. 😭 The ideas that were churned out to deal with the Storm of Life (illness, funding, etc) was really thoughtful for me. The stories of family togetherness, intentional and purposeful care and positive regard and support of the significant people and community was so moving.
I was just so blown away today. Thank you again for this meaningful time spent with you! Thanks Kumar for suggesting the younger ones to join. I will forward you guys some readings about exchanging documents :)
Warmly,
Liz
