My Parents are Here

There's something amazing about growing up. Suddenly you have grown your own family and you find yourself saying the same things, doing the same things, caring for some of the same issues your parents did. At first you pinch yourself - how did I become such an old person? Than you start getting it, the WHY. Why they did it, said it, cared for you in that way. What were they thinking then and there... You understand the thought process behind those routines/sayings/ceremonies. Congrats, my friend, you have just joined the old parents league, and you can't go back.

That stage happened for me a while ago, I'm half way into 'veteran parent' now. Soon I'll grow even older (and wiser?) and become an honorary member of the Parent to an Adolescent Child. Believe me, those need all the honoraries they can get, they don't get much of anything else from the adolescent side of the deal.

So now I see things through multi lens: my old young self, my parent self, and my new older self. Confusing? yes, sometimes, yet I gained more appreciation for my parents. The way they brought me up, their concern, advice, and wisdom.

These coming two weeks, as we plow the celebratory streets of New York (i.e "The City") and, of course the one street of down town Smallville, I aim to show them what I like, what I do when they are not here, what their grandchildren daily routine looks like, creating a scene of sorts, so they can picture us in that scenery when they're back and far away from us, lessen their concerns, creating a backdrop to our adventures.