Gallery Haven
Exquisitely Old & Renewed
By Ryan Tramonte
People like to say that kids say the most at amazing and honest things , but I disagree . I find children horrifically boring . And I find that the truth tends to topple the tower of delusion on which I have built my life .
Old people speak verbal gold . Not only do we look past the words of wisdom of our more experienced elders , we also don ’ t brag about them nearly enough . We tune out anything that starts with “ When I was your age …” or “ I wish I ’ d known …” And you never hear anyone say , “ My grandmaw can knit a quilt twice as fast as your grandmaw ,” or “ My pawpaw calls me by my brother ’ s name more often than anyone else .”
But let our kids tap the rim of basketball goal , with anything that resembles a basketball , and we are suddenly talking about NBA options . It ’ s not fair . At all . Older folks are smart , reliable , and say funny things . They also have great insurance . We need to embrace these things and forget about those little people who need tuition money and can ’ t make their own sandwiches .
18 | The French Quarterly