The Age Factor

Like I've heard before, you're an adult once, but a child twice: when you're young and when you're elderly. My mom is going for knee surgery next week and its scaring the heck out of her. She'll be in the hospital for three days, and in rehad another 10-14 days. And out of work for about two months.

My grandparents came by for Thanksgiving. While I was happy to see them, it also scared me to see how much they had aged. My grandmother who was always the more active of the two, now walks slightly hunched, has lost weight and seems so frail. Once full of fire and spunk, now seems almost extinguished. Her memory is going too. My grandfather has walked with a cane for a while now, but suffers from memory loss and paranoia. To see them this way, actually made me feel angry(silly I know). It was as if I was blaming them for getting old. What really terrified me was thinking of their mortality. They raised me as a child. They were my 'parents'. Seeing them like this makes me think of them not being with me anymore and I don't think I can deal with that. My son is so blessed to have been able to know his great-grandparents.

This Friday is my grandfather's birthday. He'll be 85. I'm going to go by on Saturday and spend time with both of them. I want them to know how much I love them and spend some quality time with them. I need to make up for my selfish thinking.

I know we all get old, but to think that your loved ones may not always be around; well let's just say people react differently. I'll have no choice but to cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I'll enjoy them and be grateful to have them in my life.