When I interact with people in their seventies and older, I often think about what is the most attractive quality about age. For me, it is the mellowness some people achieve. They are able to translate their life experience to words of wisdom without being overbearing and only in the spirit of sharing. They do not hold strong opinions about most things and are still willing and able to learn. Overall being in their presence is like sitting under the shade of a tree with a big canopy on a hot day. You understand what it means to have lived and learned well, what you can aspire to be some day.
There is also benefit to seeing the counter-example to this which exists in abundance. People who fail to grow up and act like a teenager trapped in the body of an eighty year old man. They have lost the hustle of youth needed to survive in the world and replaced it with an overwhelming insipidity. They are no longer willing to learn or unlearn. A conversation with them could range from being amusing to aggravating but it never nourishes the soul. So it is no surprise their kids call and visit on a schedule to execute their filial responsibilities but don't get much in return.
The tragedy is that with an actual teenager there is hope they will come out of that challenging life stage to become an adult you would want to know as a friend. With the elderly, that is not an option - you get to experience what it is like to live with an eternal teen that also happens to have geriatric needs. It is the combination from hell and tells me who I should never become.
There is also benefit to seeing the counter-example to this which exists in abundance. People who fail to grow up and act like a teenager trapped in the body of an eighty year old man. They have lost the hustle of youth needed to survive in the world and replaced it with an overwhelming insipidity. They are no longer willing to learn or unlearn. A conversation with them could range from being amusing to aggravating but it never nourishes the soul. So it is no surprise their kids call and visit on a schedule to execute their filial responsibilities but don't get much in return.
The tragedy is that with an actual teenager there is hope they will come out of that challenging life stage to become an adult you would want to know as a friend. With the elderly, that is not an option - you get to experience what it is like to live with an eternal teen that also happens to have geriatric needs. It is the combination from hell and tells me who I should never become.
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