Grandpa’s hearing aid is up, his good chair is by the window and he’s saved a story for you. Don’t make him save it too long.

Older people often keep something back specifically for you, and they will hold it indefinitely rather than impose it. The good chair by the window and the story waiting in it are a standing invitation that never gets repeated out loud. Time also works differently on the two sides of that room. What feels to you like a visit postponed can be a long stretch of waiting to him.

Go this week if you can, and go without a deadline attached. Ask about something that happened before you were born. Let the answer take as long as it takes.