DENVER — Age is only a number. That adage was proven time and again Wednesday afternoon at the Clermont Park Life Plan Community. A group of sixth graders from St. Anne’s Episcopal School chatted for an hour with residents of the senior living facility for their Legacy Journals project.
“There’s interviewing going on with questions that have been developed, and they’re taking notes on those,” said Father Al Miller, Chaplin at St. Anne’s.
Some questions made the bond between student and resident evident.
“Did you like going to school? What was your favorite class?” asked students Sophia Copra and Ellie Toland.
Resident Anna Bongorna replied with a laugh, “Oh yes. I liked recess.”
“Me too,” Sophia chuckled back.”
Other questions were a bit tougher for the middle schoolers to ask.
“What is the hardest thing you had to say to someone?”
An answer that doesn’t get any easier with age for Anna.
“When my mother died I feel like I went with her because we were always together. That was the hardest thing I had to do. Say goodbye to my mother.”
The Legacy Journal project goes all year. All 44 sixth graders participate. In the spring they will present the journals to the residents and their families. It’s an experience Father Al says teaches lessons you can’t learn from a textbook.
“It’s a way for students to understand the value of a life, long-lived, and with richness to it.”