I just started Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and wow, is it awesome. Took some time to reflect on my study abroad trip, which was two years ago now. On the trip, we got to learn about care for our elders, how multigenerational homes took place of nursing homes, so the family could be together and take care of one another through all stages of life. Across Vietnam and South Africa, care for elders was the responsibility of the children---but beyond care, elders also played a crucial role in society. They were our exalted advisors and consultants, played key roles in important rituals, and were held in deference and high respect and honor. In the United States, in Europe, in other more Westernized countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, our elders live apart from us. They carry on with their lives independently, and the children are free from the expectations of responsibility to care for them/live with them. Neither ways of being are wrong, but it does reveal the choices we have to live with, just like any other decision we make that affects a grander experience of our world (i.e. shopping local, being present with your neighborhood, not moving every year to a new location but taking care of one).