For the Parents

It's very strange when you get old enough (and some of us are not/were not that old) to realize that your parents are people. Complex, idiosyncratic people that sometimes need to be saved. From themselves, mostly. But sometimes from an illness or just from getting old.

It's weird.

A dear friend of mine had the strangest encounter over the holidays, and I have known her since 6th grade. So we both grew up with each other's parents, both dealt with the divorces, and both watched a sort of painfully slow deterioration of one parent.

It's so strange. I mean, here we are, just starting our lives, and it sometimes seems like our parents need someone to take care of them. But we can't. Because there are too many problems to fix. And it seems waaaay too soon to have to do that, already. They aren't that old.

I wonder when we have kids and they end up seeing us in all our quirks and little fantasy worlds-- will they feel sad for us too? Is that where we are headed too? I mean, technically, genetically--it's in our blood to behave certain ways. When you get older, all your little neuroses get amplified in strange ways. Will they feel sorry for us too?