Dear next generation, I would like to tell you to not be afraid to strike up a conversation with an older person. I have worked and volunteered with a lot of young adults who are silent when I’m around them. I’ll break the silence by starting a conversation, and then they will suddenly look away from their cell phone or thoughts and perk up, and actually seem surprised—perhaps grateful—that I had spoken to them. Young people are very isolated now, with all of the omnipresent cell phones, electronics, and so on. At 63 (and from a generation of social talkers), I have a lot of life experiences to share, and once I start chatting with younger folks, they open up and join in the fun! I little while ago, a young man was bagging my groceries and asked me how my day was going. He had a stutter, and I …