Conjuring Wisdom: Life Lessons and Purpose Across Generations

Marcotte, Achin, Faria, Lewis, & Wilkins (Rhode Island College), Botelho & DeSalvo (University of Rhode Island), Caicedo & Ruthmann (Borough of Manhattan Community College), Prewitt-Freilino (Rhode Island School of Design), Castro (NYU), & Parkin (Fordham)

As people move through the lifespan, their experiences shape not only how they understand their own lives, but also the wisdom and support they offer to others.

This symposium examines how older adults draw on lived experience to provide advice, maintain meaningful connections, and find purpose across generations and cultural contexts. Three qualitative studies explore these processes through interviews with grandmothers, older immigrants, and retirees.

Findings demonstrate how grandmothers transform experiences with restrictive gender expectations into advice encouraging younger women toward greater autonomy and authenticity; how culture and gender shape the life lessons older immigrants share about education, relationships, family, and resilience; and how retirees seek purpose and connection through meaningful opportunities to contribute and volunteer.

Together, these studies highlight older adults not simply as recipients of support, but as valuable sources of knowledge, resilience, and social connection.

The findings demonstrate the importance of creating opportunities for older adults to share their experiences, contribute to their families and communities, and remain meaningfully connected across generations.