“Oh, yes. In my day, people got married and then had children.” She shook her head. “The world has changed, my dear. Marriage doesn’t seem to mean the same as it used to. History tends to repeat itself, and I fear when the stability of a civilization is lost, society crumbles. You’ll study the results in your history classes in college,” she added, nodding. “Do you have Dr. Barlane for history by any chance?”

“Yes,” Michelle said, stunned.

The old woman laughed. “He and I graduated together from Marist College, both with degrees in history. But he went on to higher education and I got married and had a family. By and large, I think my life was happier than his. He never married.”

“Do your children live here?” she asked.

“Oh, no, they’re scattered around the world.” She laughed. “I visit with them on Skype and we text back and forth every day, though. Modern technology.” She shook her head. “It really is a blessing, in this day and time.”

Michelle was surprised. “You text?” she asked.

“My dear,” the old lady mused, laughing, “I not only text, I tweet and surf, and I am hell on wheels with a two-handed sword in World of Warcraft. I own a guild.”

The younger woman’s idea of elderly people had gone up in a blaze of disbelief. “You...play video games?”

“I eat them up.” She shrugged. “I can’t run and jump and play in real life, but I can do it online.” She grinned from ear to ear. “Don’t you dare tell Wofford Patterson, but I creamed one of his Horde toons last night on a battleground.”

Michelle almost fell over laughing.

“And you thought you were going to interview some dried up old hulk who sat in a rocking chair and knitted, I bet,” the woman mused with twinkling eyes.

“Yes, I did,” Michelle confessed, “and I am most heartily sorry!”

“That’s all right, dear,” Mrs. Duncan said, patting her hand. “We all have misconceptions about each other.”

“Mine were totally wrong.”

“How nice of you to say so!”

Michelle changed gears and went back to the interview. But what she learned about elderly people that day colored her view of them forever.

“She plays video games,” Michelle enthused to Minette, back at the office. She’d written her story and turned it in, along with her photos, while Minette was out of the office. Now she was elaborating on the story, fascinated with what she’d learned.

“Yes, there have been a lot of changes in the way we perceive the elderly,” Minette agreed. “I live with my great-aunt. She doesn’t play video games, but I did catch her doing Tai Chi along with an instructor on public television. And she can text, too.”