The BRO Code for Seniors and Grandparents

Tell your stories, and write them down.

Your grandkids will want them long after they stop rolling their eyes.

Keep learning something new.

A language, the harmonica, the TV remote. Every brain loves a challenge.

Walk every day.

The body says "use it or lose it," and it does not accept excuses, even good ones.

Call your grandkids. Then call again.

They are busy, not indifferent. Be the grandparent who keeps trying.

Get your affairs in order.

A will, a list of accounts, where the spare key is. It is the last great favor you do your family.

Pass on what you know about work, money and marriage.

Wisdom only helps if it gets handed down.

Keep your friends close.

Lunch once a week with the old gang is better medicine than half the cabinet.

Say yes to the family photo.

You will complain about how you look. They will frame it anyway.

Ask the grandkids for help with technology.

They love being the expert. Let them.

Volunteer.

The world still needs you. Somebody's kid needs a reading buddy, and you have the patience.

Laugh at getting older.

If you are going to groan when you stand up, make it a good one.

Tell your children you are proud of them.

They are fifty, and they still want to hear it.

Keep your mind sharp with puzzles, books and friendly arguments about the weather.

Don't give your bank details to anyone who calls you.

Your grandson is not in jail in another country. Hang up and call him.

Don't decide about driving alone.

Once a year, let someone honest ride with you and tell you straight.

Don't give unasked-for advice more than once a day.

Save it up. It will be worth more.

Don't let pride keep you off the cane.

A cane is cheaper than a hip.

Don't spoil the grandkids behind their parents' backs.

Spoil them in front of their parents. That is the tradition.

Don't let the TV be your only company.

It never asks how you are.

Don't spend all of lunch on your health.

Five minutes on the knee, then on to something fun.

Don't skip the doctor because you "feel fine."

That is what fine people say right before they are not.

Don't be afraid of the smartphone.

It is just a telephone that went to college.

Don't answer emails that say you won a prize.

If you did not enter, you did not win.

Don't let an old grudge eat the years you have left.

Make the call. The grudge was never worth it.

Don't put off the trip.

"Someday" is not on any calendar.

Don't forget to say "I love you."

Your family will never get tired of hearing it.