Elderly And Adolescent

​What Adolescents and Older Folks Have in Common

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​What do adolescents and older folks have in common?  Adolescents are from thirteen to nineteen.  Older folks are 60 plus years old.
It is surprising to find many commonalities between adolescents and older folks.  Here are a few:

People label you by your age and have opinions about your behavior.

Body changes are challenging, new urges and needs for adolescents, and lessening of memory and physical and sexual capabilities for older folks.

Moving into the unknown future -- not sure of what is coming next.  For adolescents, it is adulthood, work, responsibilities.  For older folks, it is illnesses, pain, suffering, and ultimately dying.

Both lose their peers.  They leave, move on, or die.  Those close to them become gone, and sometimes unexpectedly.

You can be seen or experienced as a nuisance, in the way.

Grieving losses -- for adolescents, of childhood innocence, for older folks grieving loss of immortality.

It would be interesting to combine adolescents and older folks in support groups, and see what they could learn from each other.