Originally Posted by Jesus H Christ

I've always been nice to old people. Years back I rented a duplex and my downstairs neighbor was a single old lady that I never took the time to get to know. Then one day I watched as the EMT's wheeled her away because she fell and broke her hip.

Almost a year later I'd see her hobble to the city handicap short bus to do shopping and errands. So one day I knocked on her door and introduced myself and told her I was going to the market and if there was anything I could pick up for her.

After the second cup of coffee I soon discover this old lady was incredibly intelligent and well educated, almost to the point of being intimidating with her sharp intellect. She was from upstate NY and a true core liberal old school hippie with history.

Her and her now dead husband were one of the first to protest the American advisers in Vietnam in 1965, the Vietnam War, and later Nixon. She would organize huge student rallies as she also associated herself with many militant groups like the black panthers etc. In the end, she was so afraid of retribution from Nixon she moved to Mexico until he left office.

This old lady was the real deal and after viewing pictures and hours of conversations on these issues and the politics of today, I found myself rarely saying anything because I was totally mesmerized by this ladies stories/intellect as I always wanted to hear more. I actually looked forward every week to get her grocery list knowing I'll get an earful.

Anyway, I noticed she's always ask me for my list and the rewrite it with hers as we talked. She had that old school penmanship and it was actually hard to read. Then one day I asked her why she would rewrite my grocery list and she said because I was single and she was trying to get me a date.

This clever old Jewish lady was always 3 steps ahead because I'd ask cute women at the market if they could read something on the list, as the conversation ended with I am shopping for an old lady downstairs. It didn't take long because I met a wonderful women this way and a year later we were married.

Over the years this old lady never fully recovered from her hip surgery and was placed into a home by the state as her mind started to fade. I lost touch with her, but I'm still happily married to the same woman.

To this day, I'll always take time out of my day to help the elderly whenever possible and sometimes you get a good story/advice in exchange.