As we celebrate the 10th National Intergenerational Day today and the launch of Buzz Me, I take this opportunity to reflect upon the idea of connection. This idea has been a common theme over the past few weeks for those of us who have been involved in bringing Buzz Me from a concept to a reality. What began as a passion to facilitate opportunities for social engagement in the senior community became an exercise in the literal aspects of connection for us. Over the past two weeks, we have been busy behind the scenes connecting the technology that will enable us to connect the community.  This has been a challenging yet rewarding experience and we have had some highs and lows. We struggled through new concepts and terminology, questions, self-doubt, and fear as we pushed ourselves to conquer new areas of learning.  It required an open mind and heart but mostly, it required vulnerability to reach out for help from each other when we were unsure. I learned a lot about the rewards of finding the path through by working together. 

Setting up Buzz Me and preparing for the launch was a collaborative effort and could not have been achieved without the ability to connect with each other.  Working together and bringing our individual skills and talents to the project was the key to bringing this dream to fruition. Working with the team behind Buzz Me got me thinking about bees this week. Bees have been working together for millions of years.  So long in fact, that edible honey was found in the tombs of ancient Egyptians.  Working in groups of 50,000 to 80,000 to a hive in the summer, each bee has a job that contributes to the function and sustainability of the hive.  Some bees gather nectar, some perform nurturing duties like feeding the queen, while others repair and protect the hive. It is a fascinating example of collaboration, as are most things that exist in nature.  The co-operation and communication found within the bee community is the main reason why vast amounts of honey can be produced. The honey is the sweet reward of this collaborative effort. Not unlike the honey produced by our beloved bee communities, the volunteers behind Buzz Me are hoping the results of the project will be equally as sweet. We are excited for this project to be beginning today and consider it a privilege to provide opportunities to help older adults have better access to their community.