i wanna grow old with you

I always feel like a bad person when I say this, but I have never liked being around the elderly.  It's not that I don't like THEM personally, I just usually feel uncomfortable.  In thinking about this, I think I've realized that the majority of times that I have encountered old folks (other than my grandparents) has been in nursing homes.  I think with nursing homes, the air is so thick with the anxious anticipation of someone passing away at any given moment that you can't help but feel uneasy there, no matter how cheerful and sweet the staff and how sunny the decor.  Especially with my grandpa, he was in the Alzheimer's ward at his nursing home.  The door to this wing was locked and you had to be let in by a nurse - then upon entering you hear someone screaming, several people are wandering around aimlessly, and one of them may come up and ask you who they are because they forgot.  It's really very sad and not a fun place to be.  Thus, this is likely the reason I have deluded myself into thinking I didn't like to spend time with the elderly.

But today reminded me that I DO like to be around them - especially talking to them and listening to their stories about their younger days.  The way their eyes light up when they start into a story about when they were growing up.  Telling you about their favorite Christmas present they ever got or when they won the science fair at school.

Today, we had a holiday luncheon at the Country Club.  The majority of people that attend this are little old ladies and occasionally their husbands.  Two of the performers, Bettye and Anna, are 70+ and were there with their husbands, and after everyone left, we got to sit down with them and have lunch.  They told us the cutest stories about how each of them met.  The way they told the stories was so romantic, so detailed - like it had happened just yesterday.  Made it sound like it was straight out of a movie, how fate brought them together.  For example, Anna was singing in a Christmas pageant and her husband said he went to see the show, and the second he saw her, he knew he wanted to marry her.  To this day,  you can still see how much they love each other.  I love to hear how people met, but it's even better with old couples.  It makes me wish I lived back then, when everything was so much simpler and true romance was still alive and well.  

My favorite movie of all time is When Harry Met Sally (if you haven't seen it, please do sometime).  Throughout the movie, they have little interviews with old couples as they tell their sweet stories of how they met and lived happily ever after with each other.  I LOVE it!  In case you haven't seen the movie, here are the clips.  Enjoy!