It is my wish for everyone reading this to live long enough to reach old age, so the youth of the time can one day consider you the ‘fossil’ or ‘outopies’ and ‘zalies’ of their time. 

It is my wish for you to live long enough to be able to see what life was like to you in your most vibrant years to the time when you can consider yourself to have lived a long life.

Honestly, there are not many more interesting ways of spending your time than with the elderly.

 It is an experience I wish many of the youth will get a chance to do if they have not already. 

The sheer amount of knowledge one can learn from a constructive conversation with the elderly is incredible.

 Because of our unique history, our elderly members have had quite an interesting experience and life.

Books and pictures do not do events justice for how impactful or significant they were. 

Having someone tell you what happened, what they saw and experienced brings a whole different light to events we simply page through in history books. 

There is so much detail and context that gets left out of what has become the mainstream events of our country’s history. 

But what I find most interesting about the elderly is the sheer amount of wisdom they have accumulated over their lifetime. 

Even though they grew up in different parts of the country, they all come with wisdom I believe can only come with age and time. 

Can you imagine having someone in your corner who is not moved or shaken by the current events of the day – not because the events are not important but simply because they have seen or experienced it before – many times or as they say, have lived long enough to know nothing bad lasts forever?

As the youth of today, we are lucky we still have them amongst us and are able to draw from their wisdom and experiences in our times of need. 

That is why I find it sad and disrespectful whenever I read cases of abuse and mistreatment of the elderly, especially when it is coming from the youth; that’s the real tragedy of humanity. 

Our elderly should be loved and protected at all costs. 

Even though they are coming to the end of their lives, they are our live libraries and parents. 

-     Olavi Popyeinawa

 Twitter: @olavipopyeinawa

 Email: olavipopyeinawa@gmail.com