Angelica Lindsay Ali

This is the Moth Radio Hour.

I'm your host, Angelica Lindsay Ali.

I'm a storyteller and frequent host for the Moth's live events in Phoenix and around the country.

In this hour, we'll be exploring stories about our elders.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have been preparing to be a grandmother since I was about eight years old.

My earliest best friend and role model was my grandma Bessie, a smiling woman from Montgomery, Alabama.

I spent hours with my grandmother at her flat on the west side of Detroit, looking out the window at her weeping willow tree while she stirred something in the pot as she shared life's secrets.

Always keep a quarter in your purse in case you need to make an emergency call.

Invest in a good slip and girdle.

And always, always bet on the Detroit Tigers.

To this day, you can still find me sitting with an elder, whether it's someone's great aunt at the family dinner, a stranger on a park bench, or my husband's 96-year-old grandmother.

I have always been attracted to the walking libraries and life lessons that exist in the minds of those who have lived long lives.

Our first story is told by Ishmael Beah.

The civil war that tore apart Sierra Leone was long and brutal, and it had a devastating effect on the population, especially the elders.

Ishmael's award-winning book, A Long Way Gone, details how he was recruited into the army at 13 and became a boy soldier.

In this story, we get to meet his extraordinary grandma.

Here's Ishmael Beah.

Ishmael Beah is an award-winning author and human rights activist.

The memoir he mentioned in the story, about his time as a child soldier, A Long Way Gone, earned critical acclaim and has been a part of school curricula all over the world.

He's also the author of two novels, Radiance of Tomorrow and Little Family.