Bridging generations: Young essayists write about their elders
An elder friend who consistently models being kind to others is an inspiration to her 11-year-old neighbor Mylah Brelia. The fifth-grader at Trinity Catholic School in Spokane marvels at how Nora Woods, 88, remains cheerful despite health issues.
For another Spokane resident, her grandmother regularly crosses the miles from New Hampshire with calls and visits to shore up their relationship. And another grandma, who enjoys cooking Filipino dishes, inspires traditions and family bonds between generations for a Cheney student.
Students from across Eastern Washington recently wrote essays about elders they know who inspire them as part of Older Americans Month in May. The Senior Assistance Fund of Eastern Washington sponsors the annual essay contest for young kids.
As this year’s first-place winner, Mylah wrote about Nora Woods, who lives across the street.
Woods had eight children, and the eldest four are deaf, said her son Fred Woods, who lives in Airway Heights and is among Nora’s adult children who can hear. He wasn’t surprised to find out that his mom received such accolades.
“My mom is a Rock of Gibraltar; she just loves everyone,” he said. “That’s just her Christianity.”
In the winning essay, Mylah wrote that Woods has helped her understand being kind to others at all times and staying brave, despite frequent trips to the hospital.
“She is also very patient and understanding with the people in her house, who use sign language,” Mylah wrote. “When she was in the hospital, I never saw her smile leave her.”
Mylah’s mother Christina Brelia grew up in the same Spokane home where they now live and also befriended Woods as a child.
“We’re very connected,” Christina Brelia said about the two families. Mylah received some flowers with the award for her essay. When she got home, the little girl gave the flowers to Nora, who teared up, her mom said.
Trinity Catholic School sixth-grader Layla Whitcomb, 12, won second place for her essay. She wrote about her grandmother Stella Parrott, who lives on the East Coast, as someone she admires because she lives life to the fullest.
“She’s always optimistic and ready for an adventure,” Layla wrote. “My grandmother Stella inspires me because in the toughest parts of her life, she kept going and did the best she could for her family. She was a single mom raising two boys. She got her GED so she could get a good job to support her family.”
Also, Stella Parrott has traveled to be near Layla when her granddaughter had two different heart surgeries, one was when she was 2 months old and one at age 3. Layla’s mom, Amy Whitcomb, said her daughter was born with a hole in her heart. Stella will be here again this month with her husband, grandfather Bert Parrott, to help the family when Layla has a third surgery for a valve replacement.
That kind of commitment also inspires Layla, who described in the essay how her grandmother demonstrates that family is a priority.
“Even though she lives in New Hampshire, she makes sure that she and I have a strong relationship,” Layla wrote. “She comforts me when we talk. I feel like I can tell her anything anytime.”
The third-place winner, Juleon Pearson-Horst, is a third-grade student at Betz Elementary in Cheney. He just turned 9 and wrote about his grandmother, Leticia Pearson. In his essay, he expressed the wish that Grandma Letty would take better care of her health because he loves her.
His 61-year-old grandmother also is important for what she does for family, he said.
“She is important to me because she cooks for the family and introduces me to my Filipino culture,” Juleon wrote. “I know she loves and cares about me, and if it weren’t for her, my mom wouldn’t be alive, which means I wouldn’t be alive either!”
His mom, Julie Pearson, said Juleon is eager to learn the Tagalog language from his grandmother, and she teaches him a few words whenever they visit her in Tacoma. His grandmother also lives with her own mother, Juleon’s great-grandmother, who doesn’t speak very much English.
For their essay awards, Mylah will receive four tickets to Silverwood Theme Park; Layla gets four movie tickets to Regal Cinema; and Juleon won two of those movie tickets.
Joyce McNamee of SAFE said the essay contest is a regional tradition, done in partnership with Aging & Long Term Care of Eastern Washington. It also helps tell stories of how older people influence the younger generations around them.
“In 1963, President Kennedy set aside the month of May to recognize older Americans, and this is just our way of recognizing it,” McNamee said.
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