I went to Houston yesterday for my grandma's birthday party. She had it in a church reception hall, full of old people.

Honestly, old people make me kinda nervous and awkward-feeling. I was standing in line for cake and punch when one of my step-uncles asked me what I was doing for a living. I told him I taught French. The lady behind me said " ohh, my momma is French! You HAVE to talk to her!!"

I hate being put on the spot like that, because I feel like my French is so fake and bad. I have to stop a lot and think of the word. If I don't know the word, I have to go through my mental thesaurus for a replacement.

The lady's momma came over and began talking. I immediately started with " Je m'excuse de mon français, mais je n'ai pas les opportunités pour practiquer..." which is probably all wrong. But, she was nice and she understood and started up a conversation. We sat down and she told me she was 84 years old, born in Rouen, Normandy. She met her GI husband during WW II and married him right after VE day. She spent a week on a boat with the name of her destination pinned to her shirt because she didn't know a word of English. Her kids didn't know French because they moved to Arkansas and they thought that mom talked funny. She learned English and she herself doesn't have opportunities to speak French anymore. ( When she spoke to her daughter, she had a delightful southern twang, but still said her R's all funny and French) I asked her questions and she asked some back.

I had a conversation in another language! With a real French person! For some reason, it was so much more real than talking to a professor, or teaching my class, or taking all those dumb tests. Her story was fascinating and I'm glad I talked to her.

So, old people aren't so bad :)