In my job I sometimes go to the prospective client’s home to do what we call an assessment. Its purpose is to gather information about them, their health and needs and to get the papers signed, and of course, collect the money. I have done two this week, which is unusual. Lori usuall does them all. Today the adult child arranged it for the mother. I find it somewhat depressing. When my mother was ill, my dad had made all the decisions. Then Daddy remarried before he got incapacitated, so his wife took care of him. I remember being hurt many years ago when my parents told me they didn’t need us to take care of them. My first job was in a nursing home and I decided then I’d bring my parents to live with me, but they didn’t think that was a good idea. They didn’t want to be a burden. Granted growing up I didn’t appreciate my parents enough, but I learned to and love them so. I wanted my children to learn about the past from them and us to be an intergenerational family. I wanted my kids to know their grandparents. But we didn’t get to. I feel cheated. I feel like my kids got cheated too. The older generations have so much to share. They have lived through such different times—such unpredictable, new discovery, totally different times. Every one of them have a story, whether they think so or not. Sit down and visit with them. Ask them what their childhood was like. Ask them what it was like to get a TV for the first time. Ask what a record player is and how their records differed from the baby boomer generation's! Ask them if they ever imagined we’d land people on the moon or an exploratory gadget on Mars. Ask what a date was like or the first movie theater. Ask why they went to war and how America back home dealt with it unselfishly. So much beauty, history and life is being lost with the older people being ignored, stored away or forgotten. Love your “old people.” They’re a precious. Visit with them; enjoy them---while you can.