I really like old people

For the 4th of July this evening I went over to my friend Ann's house (not Anne, but Ann whom I work with at Coconut) and had dinner with her and her parents Elin and Fred (Fred volunteers out at Coconut). It was one of the most delicious homemade pizzas I've ever had with super tasty date bars for dessert. Yum. And ginger green tea for after dessert.
It was so nice to get some surrogate grandma and grandpa time. I really miss my grandparents. They all died WAY too young for my taste (although my grandma Ross was 92, but I was only 21) and I don't feel I got enough time and stories from them. I just love listening to feisty old people telling me how it was back in the day. I can't help but think about all the things that it was expected for people to do by hand, and how things like cars weren't taken for granted, and the different ways people thought of education and what was considered valuable. It's difficult to hear their stories and not look around and feel like we, as a country, have really gone down the toilet. I love that older people, and especially the feisty ones are just as mad about everything as people my age, only I think that more of them are better educated than we young people are. Even with all of our technology, I don't feel that most people my age use it for learning about current events - myself included! I only listen to 1 news program - it's all I can handle! Much more than that and I get all depressed.

Anyway, my point was about grandparents and how hanging out with old people has always made me happy. I remember the old guy, Jack, who used to rent the upstairs of my grandma Ross's house. I used to really like to go up and hang out with him and watch tv. I don't remember what we would talk about, I just remember I liked it - probably because he liked the company and let me be myself.
Since my last grandparent died in 2004, I've distinctly felt their absence. I like that once people get over a certain age, they really don't care what the rest of the population thinks and they pretty much do what they want to do. They've (hopefully) found the things they know they really like in life and they're trying to soak up as much as they can with much enthusiasm. And they enjoy young people so much it seems, especially grandkids and anyone who's interested in the stories they have to tell.

Sitting on Elin, Fred, and Ann's lanai watching the marine corps fireworks tonight was just perfect. They live right on Kaneohe Bay and the reflections and breeze off the water was just the most pleasant thing I'd felt for a while. Something about some old people's houses is so comfortable to me. It feels like a home I guess. Not an apartment that is a transitory place. Not a new house that was just moved in to, but a real home full of lives' worth of history.