Here something else to consider...

I am 73... I have some hearing issues... and much more to the point on this issue, I have memory difficulties. If I have to wait a long time, I am likely to forget the point I wanted to make. To be very blunt, I simply can't think the way I did when I was younger. I used to engage in those rapid fire discussions you describe. They can be very creative and interesting. I can't do that anymore.

I would dearly love to have an opportunity to engage in conversation. But it isn't easy to find people who will tolerate my

BTW - As a kid on long cross-country car trips with my family, my sisters (both much older than me) used to pay me to stay silent for a while... I was a real chatterbox.