It's National Visit-The-Elderly-Day!

It's not, really, but wouldn't that be nice?

Not just nice for the elderly, but for us too. Everyone needs a sage in their life. Someone who has been there and done that before there were washing machines and TV's and Hot Pockets. No one can put things in perspective like someone in their 80's or 90's.

I ran out of grandmas a couple of years ago so now I borrow my boys' great grandma on their dad's side. Grandma Rose. I visited her yesterday. She's awesome. Over 90 and smokes like a chimney. (Which I don't recommend. She has genetic momentum* and you don't.)

She's also hilarious and sassy and very honest. These are all traits that seem to propel a person into longevity. My grandma, Nan lived to be 100 and she used to say brutally honest things like, "Oh, Lynda. You're so nice and flat-chested." Or "You have a nice Roman nose." Or "Your sisters are so quiet and you're so peculiar. Isn't that nice?" I think she figured if she threw the word "nice" in, it wouldn't contribute to my self-loathing, even though people of her generation didn't bother with concepts like self-loathing because they were too busy trying to save ration tickets to buy meat for a family of nine.

See? Perspective.

Grandma Rose was telling me yesterday about her first husband who was a gorgeous, armed forces pilot. He died in a crash when she was in her thirties, leaving her to fend for herself and her five children. And she did. And her children are amazing adults. You can't accomplish that if you're not hilarious, sassy and honest.

Then we talked about all sorts of stuff like kids, families, relationships, gossip, addiction, Erma Bombeck, bingo and cremation versus burial, of course. But that's her reality, which I realized has never been much different than mine (work, kids, love, loss, and then the inevitable).

The one glaring difference was that I had to go and she had to stay...and sit...for hours. And even though she has daily visitors, that's a lot of space to fill.

Some people have to fill even more. Do you know any of them? Maybe you could pay them a visit today. Start with a phone call if you're nervous. The elderly are usually really loud and not adept on the phone, which is super cute and will probably make you smile. And they will smile because you made a connection.

So go ahead. Grab an extra latte and spend an hour with someone who would never pay ten bucks for coffee. (You must have a tiny brain in your nice, big head.)

Happy National-Visit-The-Elderly-Day!

*"Genetic momentum" is a concept I learned about from Dr. Cate Shanahan who wrote the book Deep Nutrition. She is not elderly but is a sage.

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