If you spend any time on social media these days, you have probably stumbled upon them: the short clips of older folks that make you stop scrolling and smile. The grandfather dispensing life advice with a twinkle in his eye. The 80-something who still dances better than her grandchildren. The retiree who, after a lifetime of lessons, sums it all up in one sentence wiser than anything you will find in a self-help book.

We share those videos, tag our friends, and feel something warm. And for good reason. There is a particular kind of joy in watching someone who has lived a full life still find delight in it. It reminds us, if only for a moment, that growing old is not something to dread but a gift many people never receive.

On Father’s Day, that thought feels especially close. Today, we celebrate the fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and elder figures who shaped us, many of them now in the season of life we call old age. It is a fitting moment to ask ourselves a simple question: when our turn comes, and it will come for all of us, how do we want to be treated? We are all growing older.