Recommendation #4: Encourage your parent to talk about events and memories from the past

This is a good recommendation. Anytime we are around our grandma, all she does is talk about her past experiences and memories of people in our family.  I wish she would record them or write them down because they are very entertaining. Even if some of the stories are embellished, they are never boring. I agree with the manuscript that by showing interest and listening to elders stories, it makes them feel important and gives them attention. My mother gets tired of hearing the same stories at times but never says anything to my grandmother about it. If my grandma is enjoying herself by telling us these memories then that is all that is important.

My other grandmother was not such a story teller, when she was alive she would stay in the present moment in conversations. My grandmothers have different personalities and I have/had very different relationships with them.