I have a dear friend I met over a year ago. He is flamboyant, self-confident, loquacious, knowledgeable, and also 78 years old… Although we may have a 61-year age gap, he is a kind friend. He is always genuinely interested in what I have to say, is always encouraging and believes in me. He goes out of his way to potentially find me new contacts to launch my career and almost always manages to talk my ear off, telling me great stories from his young days and about his family. He loves a raspberry danish and doesn’t drink and not to mention, he has the best fashion sense! Usually shopping at op shops, the man really knows how to find some good fits.
For privacy purposes in this article, I will be calling him Dear Old Man (DOM).
Now, I cherish my friend, DOM, so I write this story with intent and a message I would like to convey.
DOM was recently showing me pictures of his daughter and grandkids for the fiftieth time on his Nokia flip phone and mentioned they were coming to visit him in Brisbane as they live out of state. He was so excited to see them. Telling me I was going to get to meet them, explaining where he was going to take them for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner, whilst adding random details, like how they are going to get there and what he is going to wear. And even though he would sometimes go on random rants about his high school dances in the ’60s and over-share his detailed plans, I nodded and smiled, being very involved in the conversation.
Two weeks later, I see DOM and I asked him how the visit was with his daughter and grandkids and why I didn’t get to meet them. Disappointedly he mentions to me that the visit did not go to plan. All the daughter had time for was one breakfast. And for a man that loves a chat, he didn’t seem to want to talk to me about this breakfast.
Seeing the heartbreak on my friend’s face made me reflect on how I treat my own parents and grandparents. I’ve always rolled my eyes to the saying ‘respect your elders’, sometimes thinking they aren’t that fun or cool to be around. And although DOM is a special sort of person, who keeps his cool at 78 years old, I had a realization that this is a lesson for all young people.
Although your parents or grandparents may not be the most fun to be around, they really do cherish even the smallest amount of time you spend with them and it doesn’t hurt to be kind for a couple of hours.
That’s my ramble.
Ruby x
Love your blog ruby❤️😊