Not funny stories, but I learned that DD never uses a steel, much less sharpens her knives unless Craig does it for her. I've also learned to do as much cooking and prepping as I can at home because her kitchen is not well equipped. As I've noted before, she's not real big on cooking.
I've also learned when staying with elderly relatives not to assume that something in their pantry or even fridge is still edible. When my step mom was in a bad car accident and I had to go live in Mississippi for about 3 months to take care of my dad (dementia) while she was in hospital and rehab, I quickly found that a large portion of her pantry and even things in fridge like condiments were out of date, and I'm talking years, even 13 for one item. Since I had to pay bills too while she was unable, I found out they had been eating out a lot as they had a running tab at the 2 restaurants in their little town. Found out she would still cook or buy items for breakfast, but they nearly always were eating out otherwise. I knew when I had visited over the last few years that we ate out a lot but just figured she didn't want to cook for me because she only cooked country type food, which was totally fine with me, but found out I was wrong, she had just gotten to the point she really didn't want to cook because she was usually too tired later in the day.
Before my dad remarried, I would always cook for him once I was old enough to travel by myself when I visited because he didn't cook. He'd heat up something frozen or canned, but that's about it. He'd eat out pretty much, though would get a home cooked meal at friend's homes or from a lady friend sometimes. I got to learn how to use and cook on a gas stove, and we're talking 35-40 years ago, boy was that fun. He had bare minimum cooking equipment. We had to buy a few things before I even had the basic essentials to cook his favorite meals the first time I visited.