People Over Age 65

When I was young, I thought people over the age of 40 were old. Over the Hill. Senile. Slowwwww.

Now that I am in my forties, I find people over 65 fascinating. Okay, maybe not ALL of them, but certainly many of them.

I think people over age 65 are part of a "forgotten" generation. They were a generation that served in world wars, were part of a period in US history where technology made some of the greatest advances in all aspects of life like automobiles, appliances and electronics.

People over age 65 don't brag that they are war heroes. They know how to save for a rainy day and remember what it was like to "do without" in the depression. They don't have a problem waiting until they have the money to purchase something as opposed to today's "Buy Now, Pay Later" mentality.

But people don't remember this. All they see are old people--holding them up at the grocery store, bank or in traffic.

At my place of employment recently, a Person Over Age 65 came in to rent a tile cutter. As we talked, we found that we both were in the military. Not only was this guy in the military, he was one of the paratroopers that flew in ahead of the rest of the military on d-day. In his day, he was famous! In fact, I "Googled" him later and he was all over the place! To read what he did for his country was astounding. But the man never said a word. I had to drag the story out of him when he came to return the equipment. I said to him, "Thank you so much for your service" and you could tell he was extremely happy to hear those words.

That made me wonder. How often does anybody say "Thank you" to the older generation? Because without them, we wouldn't be where we are today.