My DEEP love for old people

As I've pretty bluntly announced to my MFT classmates I prefer to have a conversation with someone under the age of 65 anyday but like many things this program forces you to get out of your comfort zone and do things you don't love. I've never been the one in my family that is good with the elderly. Now my brother and sister they are awesome with the geriatrical age group...they love to hug them, talk to them, hang out with them...but me give me a rebellious teenager anyday and I would be perfectly content. Now don't get me wrong I loved my grandparents and loved being around them and there are certain older people that I'm perfectly content to be around (although I still could recommend showering more often even to them). In general though if I don't know you don't have no need to get to know you or to have you hug me and want to tell me about how life was back in the "good ole days when young people had respect." Well like I said this program forces you to do things you don't want to do. So for one of my summer classes I had to interview a couple over the age of 65 (which it hit me that is almost where my parents are as we just celebrated my mom's 60th) and talk with this couple about those "good ole days." After putting it off as long as I possibly good I strolled down to my elderly neighbors that smoke a pack an hour (yes that is a pack an hour) with my list of questions and my inhaler so I could breath. Now you talk about respect you would think that they wouldn't smoke around me knowing how that affects asthmatics but no luck there!!! Well I in a less than unenthusiastic manner began asking them my lined out questions. Talk about staying on topic impossible with them. To my question of what was it like during WWII compared to Vietnam and Korea and now Iraq I got the answer, "Well you know now I didn't have these knees paining me like they are today. This rain here we've been having just about does me in. Then that therapist come and don't do what the doctor say anyhow. Now our grandson we just about raised he now now he think he understand hard times but let me tell......" You get the point totally off topic and not short and to the point so I could leave. Soon however I was mesmorized. As this couple grew up near Plainview where I'm from they started talking about life in West Texas and how it has changed and how farming has changed and surprisingly my list sat untouched and I sat and listened to this couple tell me about their life. After what didn't seem to be that long I looked down at my watch and 2 hours had past. 2 HOURS. I couldn't believe it. So maybe this couple isn't that bad and really does have decent wise things to say and good stories to tell (they kept me laughing quite a bit) and I even think they take a shower a day (of course they have to they smoke a pack an hour) but I'm not ready to go get a job in geriatrics yet; but I think I can have a different attitude toward my clients that are over 70!!!!