Older people repeat the same stories because those are the ones that mattered. Listen like it’s the first time.

Repetition is a sorting mechanism. Out of a whole life, a few episodes got kept and polished and told again, so the repeated story is a list of what counted. The telling also does something for the teller: it puts them back somewhere they liked being. Hearing it again is a small cost for that.

Next time a story starts and you know the ending, ask a question inside it instead of waiting it out. What were you wearing, who else was there, what happened to that person. You will get a version you have never heard.