Stories to tell the grandkids...

I have always had a love for people who were about 50-70 years older than me. Growing up  I was regularly around my great-grand parents and grandparents on both sides of my family. My mom also has a love for people who are older. She taught me to always take the time to listen to an older person story. My mom is a talker, she will make a friend in any place she goes. During my last years of high school my mom started regularly volunteering weekly, sometime daily at a retirement home down the corner.  I swear my mother knew each and every person in that complex, not only did she know their name but she knew where each person lived and she knew a lot of life stories. One thing I learned about growing old from being around old people is....you stay the same its the body that changes not the mind.  My mom also had the luck of knowing all the gossip about the retirement home, and i'll let you in on a secret...from elementary school to a retirement home the themes of gossip never change. High school is something I would never wish to go back and re-do, I hated it, but having the opportunity to process some teenage "drama" with an older wiser people helped me tremendously. I realized there will be people throughout my whole life who I don't like and I will have to work with in some capacity or another...so I better start learning to deal with them. I survived high school. People often comment on  me being "wise beyond my years" I think that is because when I was growing up my mom taught me to listen to wisdom, different from advice.

One thing about my friend Katie that constantly draws me to her is her love of growing, in many aspects. Katie is up for the journey of growing up, enjoying every moment as it comes but also believing that everything gets better with age, even life. Katie and I have spent hours talking about how fierce we will be old ladies and what kind of Grandma's we will be. Embracing every gray hair, wrinkle, body change that comes with old age. We also talked about the kinds of stories we will tell our grandchildren. It was during a talk with Katie, I came to another small realization of life, for me, I want to live a life that will be amazing stories to tell my grandchildren. Not perfect stories, amazing stories, raw stories, WTF I can't believe grandma did that stories. 

So here I am, 24. I think I have a grand collections of stories to share already. Some stories I tell don't even seem real. I want my life to be like the movie Big Fish. I think I am on a good path so far, but I am so happy that the stories will only get better. 

Everyday in Thailand is a story. The other day the weather was beautiful and my windows were open in the early afternoon. From my room I could hear chickens, dogs, loud music, and a sound I can only explain as a water buffalo giving birth...I will be honest it very well could have been a cow but water buffalo sounds better. A noise that at first horrified me, then made complete sense in my little neighborhood here in rural Thailand. Biking around chickens, dogs, cats, children, motorcycles, and any random thing that pops up in the middle of the street is my normal right now. I take it in. It won't be my normal forever but it will be a great story to tell the grandkids.