My folks didn't talk much about stuff. You know - stuff stuff? Life stuff. They spoke about politics, or house chores. They bickered about money, about how to raise the kids. What schools to go to, the weather, crime, sports, that kinda mundane stuff. The everyday kinda stuff.
My dad paid the bills and my mom cooked.
My dad did all the errands and my mom managed the books.
When my dad's mom passed away in 2005 and when my mom's mother died a year later they never spoke about it to each other.
My parents, for the last five years of their lives sat down and watched TV every evening, it was their ritual, never really saying much.
When my dad died in 2014, my mom's health was so frail that she couldn't go see him in the hospital in his dying moments. When she finally saw him at the funeral home in the casket, frozen and peaceful, she kissed her hand and put her hand gently on his lips and said 'Now I can believe he's gone'
They never really said I love you much. To be honest I'm not too sure if I ever heard it at all.
But they were a team. And now, my mom is a fish out of water.
And I wonder which generation had/has it better? - This one who wants to gush and talk about every emotion under the sun to the point where talk is meaningless or my parents' generation that didn't talk about much, but one thing they did have was a great sense of understanding for each other.
I'm thinking maybe my parents got it right. In the end they got it right. It only took 30 odd years but they got it right.
My dad paid the bills and my mom cooked.
My dad did all the errands and my mom managed the books.
When my dad's mom passed away in 2005 and when my mom's mother died a year later they never spoke about it to each other.
My parents, for the last five years of their lives sat down and watched TV every evening, it was their ritual, never really saying much.
When my dad died in 2014, my mom's health was so frail that she couldn't go see him in the hospital in his dying moments. When she finally saw him at the funeral home in the casket, frozen and peaceful, she kissed her hand and put her hand gently on his lips and said 'Now I can believe he's gone'
They never really said I love you much. To be honest I'm not too sure if I ever heard it at all.
But they were a team. And now, my mom is a fish out of water.
And I wonder which generation had/has it better? - This one who wants to gush and talk about every emotion under the sun to the point where talk is meaningless or my parents' generation that didn't talk about much, but one thing they did have was a great sense of understanding for each other.
I'm thinking maybe my parents got it right. In the end they got it right. It only took 30 odd years but they got it right.
No comments:
Post a Comment