My mother just called again to say how much she loves me, how proud she is of me and how thankful she is for me. She does this daily - sometimes several times daily. I recently moved her here from California, at her request, so she could be closer to me and the family. I love having her here and close. I see her the majority of days each week and we talk daily. I feel so blessed to still have my mother and for her to be so active and full of life at 85 years old. Her mother was my favorite person in the world, my granny. Decades ago I fell in love with our oldest generation. In graduate school, I concentrated in gerontology. I've worked and studied in this field and just adore these people. Never have I been able to understand the young people, even trained social workers, who shudder at the idea of working with the elderly. I understand that working with children, kittens and puppies can seem the more attractive thing to do but do they not realize how helpless and vunerable our elderly are? Even when I've adopted animals they, except for two, have been the overlooked older animals curled in the back of their cages. Elder histories are so rich and alive; they are the storytellers in charge of our personal and societal remembrances. Dr. Stevens-Roseman called last week to ask if I would be the featured speaker at the Annual Gerontology Luncheon at the graduate school in a few weeks. Delighted to be able to share my interest and passion for this population, I hope to attract even one young professional to this field.