Yesterday, I had coffee with my 18 year old female friend, Alyssa. It was our last time together before she goes to college. We talked amiably for about an hour; she mostly listened as she is adept in asking questions about my life that are deeper than, “How are you doing?” I’m almost 82, with a heart condition and a myriad of aches and pains that seem to come with old age. I am also a person who has written five books, lectured internationally and lived an amazing life.
After an hour, I stated, “This is your last week before you go to school. You are being very patient with your time with me.” She smiled, “This is my time with you.” (I choked back tears.)
She shared her life, ambitions, goals, dreams with me, and I talked about how important it is to me to help people in some way every day. When we parted, it was because I said something about what I was going to do next. We had sat there for 2 hours and 40 minutes.
I told her I will (old fashioned idea) write her at school and she said she would love that! She thanked me for my wisdom and my friendship. I drove away feeling full to the brim. I didn’t feels invisible or irrelevant; I felt seen, heard and loved.
Trust me, it’s a different generation, the one below people my age. We don’t need the people who love us to spend enormous amounts of time with us, we just need to feel our lives were interesting in some way, the things we have learned are of value and that wanting to spend even a few minutes with us is an unimaginable gift of love.
Please share with your friends and family!
Scott A. McDaniel photo
