We're Soulmates

Old Dogs, New Kids

Samiyah waited excitedly by the front door of Everyday Living for the little ones to arrive. Ms. Betty laughed as she watched her walk and dance back and forward.

Samiyah had watched some videos the night before of kids and the elderly interacting with each other and it was truly the sweetest thing. Kids and the elderly were basically in the same situation; at the mercy of adults, which could be dangerous sometimes for them. In some nursing homes, they abuse the elderly, just like some kids are abused, and neither can do anything about it.

Samiyah was hoping that they would find some similarities with the kids. They've gone through so much of life and now they live simply waiting for bingo and the news; the kids live simply waiting for the alphabet song and Lunchables. Hopefully, they could share something new with each other since they were from two completely different generations.

As soon as the kids' bus arrived, Samiyah bounced up and down. She opened the doors wide and smiled brightly. The kids came out one by one all looking so cute and shy with wide wondering eyes. They stayed very close to Will and his employees.

"Hi, guys!" Samiyah shrieked. She felt Ty put his hand on her shoulder.

"You don't want to scare them. Calm down, baby," he whispered in her ear.

"I know, I'm just so excited!"

Ty figured he would have to take over so that Samiyah wouldn't creep them out. He walked over to the group of about twenty kids and bent down.

"What's going on guys? Are you excited about today?" he asked. Some nodded and others just looked at him.

"Why would we have fun with a bunch of old people? Aren't they too busy dealing with arthritis or something?" an older boy amongst the group asked. He was probably 5.

"Well, older people can be fun too. There's one lady who really likes to dance? Do any of you like to dance?"

"Yeah!" Some kids said showing their enthusiasm for dancing.

"My brother says the elderly stink. Is that true?" the same little boy asked. Ty sighed knowing he might be a bit of a problem. He walked over to the boy.

"What's your name?" Ty asked him. "Ricky."

"Alright, look Ricky. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Just because your brother said it doesn't make it true, for one. Two, you can't assume what a person is like based off of their age, race, or gender. People are different in all groups, alright? So, do me a favor and try to learn something really interesting today. Can you do that for me?"

Ricky smiled and nodded.

"Good. Alright everyone, follow me!" Ty went through the doors and down the hall toward the residents' lounge with Samiyah bouncing close behind.

Samiyah was even more excited because the residents didn't know the children were coming. She wanted to keep it a secret so that the residents would be surprised on the day they came. Hopefully, they wouldn't get too excited and have a heart attack.

"Guys, we have a surprise for you!" she sang to the residents when she walked into the lounge. The residents turned toward the door and soon after, the children came in.

Samiyah almost cried tears of happiness seeing the joy that came over their faces. The children shook hands with them and immediately started to talk to them. It was exactly what Samiyah had imagined.

Some of the little girls were able to play in some of the women's hair and the boys played goldfish with the older guys. Mrs. Carlson started the dancing, of course, and the children loved the dancing. Some of the little girls danced with the men and the boys danced with the women. Samiyah's heart was full.

Ty knew exactly where Ricky needed to go. With Benny.

"Hey Ricky, I want you to meet somebody," Ty said. He walked him over to Benny who had a smile on his face watching everyone else enjoy themselves.

"Benny, I'd like for you to meet Ricky." Ricky sat down next to Benny.

"Hi Mr. Benny, it's nice to meet you," he said with a delightful tone.

"Well, it's nice to meet you too, Ricky!"

"My full name is Richard, it's kind of old. No offense. What's your full name?"

Benny laughed. "Bernard is the name my mother gave me."

"Mothers," Ricky shook his head.

Ty smiled knowing they'd get along well.

Samiyah joined in on the many activities as well. Once she had to end a debate between a three-year-old girl and an 88-year-old man on whether cartoons were more informative than the news. His main point was that the news let you know what was going on in the day and her point being Mickey Mouse Club House taught you important facts and life lessons you could use all your life.

Samiyah had to admit, the residents were fun, but this was probably the best day she had ever had at Everyday Living.

The residents were so sad when the kids had to leave. Many of them didn't want to let the children go. One resident hid a child behind the curtain. Of course, the little boy went along with it. The kids didn't want to go either. Some kids cried and others promised that they'd get their parents to bring them back.

Ty gave Samiyah a nice kiss when the day was over.

"What was that for?" she laughed.

"I needed the energy."

She laughed at his silliness. "I think this might be a weekly thing if we can get Will on board," he mentioned.

"Yeah! Did you see how excited the residents were? I mean I've never seen them so happy. Not even with us. Those kids made them feel young. They made them feel like they mattered and like they were important. And they are! Just because they're older doesn't mean people should just write them off," Samiyah said.

"You're right. It makes you wonder why we separate each other by age. I mean why can't we have older people talking to younger people. Instead of the same old boring conversations, we could learn something new. Instead, we all have to stay in our places and do the work set for our age range," Ty added.

"It's a kind of division we often overlook," Samiyah shook her head.

"Hey, Ty!" Ty heard Ricky and felt him tugging on his shirt. 

"I learned something new today?" 

"What's that?" Ty asked interestedly. 

"If I ever get married, I should always let her be right, even if I know she's wrong." 

Benny.