Your grandma’s “I’m just glad you came” is not small talk. At her age, that’s the whole point.

When someone has fewer afternoons left than you do, your presence stops being a nice extra and becomes the event itself. What sounds like a polite line is often the plainest truth in the room. Nothing you could bring competes with sitting down for an hour.

Call or visit an older relative this week with no occasion attached, and let it be boring. Ask one question about what they were doing at your age. Showing up is the whole gift.