Appreciate the Elders

Today I got to have lunch with my grandparents and my great-aunt (and my mom, but she's not really an elder - you're welcome, Mom). It was fantastic! For one thing, they're all really great people. Maybe it's the history major in me, but I really enjoy talking to older people. They have such a great view of the world. I guess that after you've lived eighty years, you really know not to sweat the small stuff, and you've learned that everything always works out for the better.

So even though they sometimes seem a bit racist or homophobic (today I accidentally brought up gay marriage - oops!), I know they mean well, and that some of their views are only that way because they've seen so many changes in their lifetimes; maybe they just want everything to slow down a bit. Plus there's the occasional nice surprise, like this gem from ninety-year-old Aunt Kate: "Why shouldn't they get married? They've been living together all these years; what's the difference?" I know all of them will support me no matter what, even if Grandpa worries that the big bad city will get me. I know they always like to hear from me.

I know I love asking them what life was like when they were my age. (Yeah, that's probably the geeky history buff talking.)

Plus I learned today that Grandpa S. met Jay Leno in California about twenty years ago. Apparently Grandpa was visiting his elementary school friend, who owned a high-end newsstand of some sort. Jay Leno walked in, and Grandpa recognized him. Mind you, Jay Leno wasn't quite as famous as he is now; back then he only subbed for Johnny Carson occasionally and didn't have his own show. Grandpa talked to Jay Leno, telling him that he and his late wife had been huge fans of his. Jay Leno listened sympathetically, and then gave Grandpa the number to call to get tickets to see the show later that week that Jay Leno was hosting. And that's how Grandpa met Jay Leno and got to see a taping of The Tonight Show. Why I never heard this story before today is beyond me.

I also got to hear how Grandpa S. and Grandma Grace met. The newsstand friend (his name was Joe Something) told Grandpa he should give Grace a call, because her husband had died a few years ago, and the two widow(er)s should get to know each other. Grandpa and Grace talked on the phone a little while he was in California. Then, six months later, Joe Something came to visit his old friends in Buffalo, inviting Grandpa to come to dinner with him, his wife, and another couple. Sick of being the awkward fifth wheel, Grandpa remembered that Grace also knew Joe Something, so he called her and asked her to go to dinner with them.

A few years later they got married. Joe Something was the best man.

Lesson of the Day: You never know where life will take you. Stay open-minded, go with the flow, and talk to the famous person you recognize in a newsstand. Oh, and if your significant other dies, life's not over - you might meet the second love of your live and live happily ever after again.