In what ways might reading or writing poetry help a person cope with change – including the change that comes with age? This is for a reflective essay but I can’t think on how to answer the question.

Explanation:

Why they assign questions like this one is much beyond me. Frankly, you are too young to know anything what the processing of aging is like. I really suggest that if you have a relative that is over 80, you consult them. Don't try this on your own. The best you can do is act like a reporter for Time.

Don't ask insensitive questions. "What was it like when you were a boy / girl." It's an awful place to start. I would show you the door if you did that to me.

So start with where they live. I'm 82 and I live in a place that takes care of me and darn good care. Look around. We were 19 at one time. Now we are about 16. Some new people came, others died off. We sit 2 per table especially during the recent pandemic.

Next, I have the largest room in the building (about 144 square feet). If you come into my room, you will see a TV. I have about 400 DVDs. So here's the first step in aging. I can't really listen to any of them. I'm stone deaf, or nearly so. How people respond to that is the difference between living and dying. I'm one of the lucky ones. I choose to live, so I took up kite flying (I grew up in a place like Chicago -- only  in Canada). It wasn't the flying of kites that mattered. It mattered that I was outside enjoying the wind across my face.

I graduated to drones. Do you know what a drone is? Look it up if you don't. The person I was with lost control of the drone and it landed on a near by building's roof.

The person was mortified and we went to the administrator to get a ladder to get on top of the roof. Our administrator has a marvelous quick wit. He said without pausing "Even if I give you the ladder, which one of the 2 of you is going to climb it?" We looked at each other. I need a cane,  he needs a walker. Who indeed? I'm not going to tell you how we got the drone down, but we did. And we have a story that we've both told countless times.

That's how you get get what you are trying to get. People have their own stories. Talk to them. Observe them. Be curious about them. You really should care about what they tell you.

And you need somebody OLD. 40 might be old to you. They're not really.

the words “strangest” and “unusual” suggest that the narrator is about to tell the story of an odd or puzzling group of people.