Since my parents moved down here, we have new Christmas traditions and most of them involve being old. We go to the assisted living home to visit my uncle, which I actually really enjoy, and my dad plays Christmas carols for all the residents. Rudolph and Jingle Bells are big hits there. This visit is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season, because even the people with severe Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia seem to have a good time.
We also go to a growing number of Christmas parties leading up to Christmas Day, where I stand off to the side with a drink until I'm cornered by someone who asks me the same questions: So I hear you just moved to DC - what are you doing up there? So I hear you just graduated - where are you going to college? My unemployment is a subject I just adore discussing with perfect strangers, and I know, I know, I'll be grateful for my youthful looks when I get older.
In my journeys through retirement, I've discovered two types of old people: awesome old people and curmudgeons. Just spend an afternoon in a retirement home, at a Denny's around 4:00, or in my parents' neighborhood, and you'll know exactly what I mean. The best is when I'm texting someone or playing Wii sports with some of the more vigorous elders and a curmudgeonly man or woman brings up Newfangled Contraptions. Kids these days, they don't communicate like regular people, they're always plugged in, I don't know how to use these internet telephones... and then they look right at me. Sorry I'm young, old people. Sorry the world is moving too fast for you. Some of you aren't yet sixty. Meanwhile, the awesome old people are off schooling me in tennis and having a much better time.
The awesome old people are much more fun, much less bitter, and much more admirable in my opinion. I definitely want to be like them when I retire. My parents are definitely in the awesome category most of the time, so the outlook for me is positive.
