I definitely feel the same and appreciate whenever I have the opportunity to jump across the bounds of age to learn and share with those older and younger than myself. The relationships that I have built across age have connections through other parts of my life. I ran into a science teacher that I had in fourth grade. He was very eager to share what he was up to, and I enjoyed hearing his stories. We would invite each other out to lunch. I learned about his commune days, his bread making skills and his photography. I've also meet folks at work. We would strike up an interesting conversation and then go out for tea to continue it on another day. The big piece here is taking the risk to ask the other person, no matter what age, if they'd like to get together.
At thanksgiving this past year, I had some great talks with my aunt's sister, Sally, whom I hadn't seen since I was about 12. We both lived about 8 hours from my aunts house. Sally asked if we would like to come and visit her about an hour from our home in Boston. We just visited them yesterday. It was great.
My daughter is now ten and creating an activity where I get to hang with her pals is also a good excuse to get some interaction. About 2 weeks a group of her friends were at our house and we made a collaborative design of a stuffed animal. Then we each cut out the fabric pieces and sewed them together for the girls. Fun. I hope more of this will come as they grow older.
If you want to spend time with people, find a common interest and ask them to spend time. I bet most times, the people will say yes and be really happy that you asked.
