My wife and I had taken our oldest granddaughter to Chic-fil-A. She is a cute, smart, and social nineteen-month-old. As we were eating an older woman walked by noticing our granddaughter, but she was on a mission to get to a table. Her husband lagged behind. Walking stooped and slow, he managed about six inches per step. Yet, he spoke to our granddaughter with the energy and vigor of a man half his age.

For those of us who have been around for a little while longer than others, we may have distant memories of supposed faith healers who seemed to profit off the sufferings of others rather than actual healings like those in the Bible.

The above question came to mind a few minutes ago as I pondered the connection between a series of contacts I attempted to make this past week and the responses I received. Allow me to set the stage for a minute.

Several weeks ago, while watching a town hall meeting of one of the presidential candidates, an elderly man came to the floor microphone and introduced himself as a WWII veteran. 

The title above, advertising personal tech fitness devices, was in the subject line of an email I received today from Best Buy. I added the question marks. Although all of us could probably benefit from being more physically fit, my mind drifted in other directions.

The flight was full, but there was still one seat open between me and the guy who sat in the isle seat. I knew the empty seat would soon be filled and wondered who it would be. Shame on me, but I am usually not one to strike up conversations.

I’m sitting at the Dallas Love Field Airport waiting for my return flight home following an absolutely wonderful time at the National Association of Activity Professionals annual conference. Knowing I would not have an opportunity to eat until late evening, I decided to get something to drink and something small to eat.

The attractive young lady behind the check-in counter at the Omni West Hotel in Dallas, TX asked, “How was your day?” I half smiled and said that she really didn’t want to know.

If you are like me you find the following question somewhat of a waste of mental energy. “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” I have a better question for you. “If a good and simple act of kindness is done and is not heralded by the doer, is it still good?”

Over thirty years ago, Wendy's debuted their "Where's the Beef?" commercial campaign, starring Clara Peller as an older lady demanding more meat from her fast-food hamburger establishment. The campaign was a huge success for Wendy’s.

This may be most important communication you have ever received from Elder Source! So please forgive me for generically addressing this letter!

We learn the lesson in our youth and find it true throughout life; people are judged by how they look on the outside more so than whom they are on the inside. No story paints a better picture of this fact than the one about Leah.

How you would react if you knew with certainty that the following would be doubled in the next few years: your chance of being severely injured falling off a ladder, your chance of dying in a plane crash, or your chance of being incapacitated due to poor health choices. Would you pay closer attention and make some adjustments?

I have always been on the quiet side of life. My mind is almost always engaged in thought and in observing life and people around me. However, in spite of all my thinking and observing, the following life lesson took years for me to learn.

I have reached the point in life where the years I have lived are more than the years I have left, and I am really, really okay with that. My focus changed when our two kids got married within a month of each other.

We are asked every year as December 25th draws nigh, “Are you ready for Christmas?” Most of us respond by saying we aren’t or we haven’t even started. Sadly, the question and response have more to do with buying gifts for each other than it does in the celebration of Christ’s birth.