Health is a condition of optimal well-being. Being healthy means being in a state of physical, mental and social well-being. I have been exposed to the healthy and the unhealthy in all three areas. Growing up I had two younger brothers with chronic illnesses. Chronic disease is a recurrent disease or a disease with periods of exacerbation and remission. One of my brothers was seriously ill with chronic kidney disease and received last rites on several occasions. My youngest brother got a staph infection in both eyes; tear ducts and lacrimal glands when he was a newborn. I was the eldest of four children, so I shared responsibility for all three of my siblings. Also, my grandmother came to live with us and we became roommates. My grandmother was diabetic, monitored on diet and oral medications, and had a regular appointment with the podiatrist monthly for routine foot care. I accompanied her more often and what a great time we would have had. On our trip home, the cab driver would drop us off a few blocks from home. We looked at the windows, took mom's medicines and then stopped for lunch. I always ordered a chopped steak, fries with gravy, and an ice cold root beer to drink. Sometimes we would treat ourselves to a quarter of a pound of whole cashews and eat them as we took the last few steps home. It seems strange that I remember exactly what I would order for lunch on those trips, but the memories are still very vivid. My mother works as a nurse in a long-term care facility and has definitely given me an awareness of aging not necessarily experienced by my friends. I spent many weekend nights with her at work and learned what it means to truly care about strangers. Foreigners in... middle of the paper... many families live in different states at a great distance from their grandparents and this is a shame. I think Eastern cultures have the right idea, multiple generations reside in one home and elders are revered and respected for their knowledge. I wish I had finished my degree years ago and gotten to a point in life where I could retire and split my time during the year between spending time with family and volunteering with an organization like Peace Corp or Vista . If I had completed my degree earlier, who knows what doors might have opened and what further education I might have attempted. Who knows what other life skills I may have acquired. I realize it's never too late to learn and I've always enjoyed school, so I hope I have enough years ahead of me to achieve these goals and use new skills in a positive way.