At a recent club event I went to with friends, my friend Lisa asked me to do her a favor. It was an easy favor to do.

Lisa asked me to sit with her husband, Larry, and to keep him engaged in conversation.She told me her husband didn’t want to come to the luncheon because it’s too hard for him to make conversation with strangers. And, to him, we are all strangers, even though we are his wife’s close friends.Since she’s president of the organization, she wanted her husband to be with her for the occasion, especially since she was getting an award. But, as the one in charge, she had a lot to do and couldn’t stay by Larry’s side.To make it easier for Lisa to take charge of everything that needed to be done, I promised her I would keep her husband company.I truly enjoy people. I find it’s easy to “make conversation” with people. In my experience, it’s always possible to find something in common with someone.It helped that I knew ahead of time some interesting things about Lisa and Larry. I knew that they had something in common with David and me in that they, too, were in a “late in life” marriage. I also knew they were high school sweethearts before they drifted apart and married other people.“Actually, we were ‘sweethearts’ since we were 7 years old,” Larry told me.That subject gave us something to talk about all through dinner as he talked about how he and Lisa got together again when both lost their spouses.To keep the conversation going, I asked him about his present hobbies or interests. “Sitting on the couch,” he answered.I laughed, thinking he was joking. He wasn’t.When he isn’t working, Larry says he spends his time on his comfortable sofa. When he retires in another month, he says he’ll be glad not to have to leave the house.Ouch. His wife is a vivacious, lively person who loves to interact with others. Larry says he is a “loner” who likes it that way, and he wants his active wife to stay home with him.It was rather obvious my friend and her husband are far apart in what they want in this stage of life.Well, that’s something they will have to work out. My only involvement was carrying on a conversation with Larry for one afternoon.To tell you the truth, after the first hour, it was a little harder than I thought it would be. But it worked.One thing I’m conscious of is trying not to be what I call a one-note singer — talking about only one thing and expecting others to do the same.Here’s my example of a one-note singer I’ll call Nancy. Whenever we are in each other’s company, which happens once a week because we belong to the same activity, she talks about one thing: Biking. When she meets someone, she asks if they are a “serious biker.” If you’re not a serious biker, your role is to sit there and listen to her while she talks about her 100-mile trips.Serious bikers — those who ride for 50 and 100 miles at a time — would call me a recreational biker.Well, I’m one happy recreational biker because I say of prayer of gratitude whenever I can enjoy the freedom of riding my bike.But it’s only a small part of my life.The problem with “Johnny One Notes” is more than the fact that they bore others by talking only about one thing. They also miss out on getting to know some incredible people who can share interesting stories and worthwhile information.I’ve always believed everyone has a story. And I love to hear their stories. Time and time again I find myself amazed at the surprising experiences of others. But that only happens if I take time to listen.Some only seek social friends who are “just like them.” Fine. That works — provided they don’t ignore the other trees in the forest.A friend forwarded to me a little piece by author Ram Dass that offers a little lesson about life. I’m sharing some the author’s words with readers:“When you go out into the woods and look at trees, you see all the different trees.“Some are bent, some are straight, Some are evergreen, some not.“You look at the trees and you allow it … you appreciate the tree just the way it is.“The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. Judging comes into play.“So I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”I like his message about turning people into trees so we can appreciate them just the way they are.We don’t demand that every tree be the same. So why do it with people?Some of us may be passionate about biking. Some may thrive by being in the great outdoors. Some love activity. Some love being surrounded by people.And others may just enjoy sitting on the couch.We don’t need to be the same, any more than all the trees in the forest need to be the same. After all, it is our differences that make each of us unique.Contact Pattie Mihalik at

newsgirl@comcast.net.