March 19, 2007
spring break, day three: channeling my inner ‘tween
Not too long after I hit publish on Saturday’s post, my mom called. “We’ve had a little mishap,” she said, “but we’re okay.” They were outside Yukon, Oklahoma (virtually on my front door) when they hit a hubcap that was lying in the road; they wound up with two flat tires. Wade immediately started putting on his shoes, and said, “Find out where they are and tell them I’ll be right there.”
God I love that man.
My parents are fine; their car (my mother’s new Honda Accord) may or may not be, we’re still waiting to hear. But I’ll tell you what, it scared the holy living hell out of me. Because I’m used to worrying about my kids’ safety, but not my parents.
My mom is flying to Pittsburgh on Thursday morning, to see family, and my dad was planning to drive home alone. But in my post mishap freak out, I got on the internet and got a plane ticket back on Friday, and then I met him at the door and said, “I’M DRIVING BACK WITH YOU! NO ARGUMENTS!”
He said, “Okay.”
So that’s that.
The first year that Wade and I lived in Tacoma, my parents came to visit us, over spring break. The men’s NCAA basketball tournament was being played in Seattle and we had tickets for the first and second rounds. They flew in on Tuesday and took a shuttle from the airport, and when they finally got to our house, my mother staggered in and collapsed on the sofa. She had a sinus infection and an ear ache, and I wound up taking her to Urgent Care the next day. My dad was bent over with back pain, and hobbled up the long flight of steps to our two-story house. We left my mother on the sofa and went to the chichi grocery for soup and bread, and put my parents to bed after dinner.
I called my brother that night and said, “I know what it will be like when Mom and Daddy are old.”
“Well?” he said.
“They’re pitiful,” I told him, “but still funny.”
Part of me still feels like I am 12 years old–not a kid, really, but certainly not an adult. And that part of me still thinks that my parents are 40-something, rather than 60 (or 70)-something. And I’m still relying on them to take care of me, even though every day I manage the business of taking care of my own family, my own kids.
Buying a plane ticket, spontaneously, without any worry about the cost or how we would make it work out, felt very grown-up, very much like something a parent does. And it’s funny to me that it’s my own parents, rather than my children, who bring that out in me.
Posted by Susan @ 7:03 pm • Uncategorized
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March 19th, 2007 at 9:41 pm, Annika Says:
Yes, I do think Wade is a keeper.
March 19th, 2007 at 11:16 pm, Busy Mom Says:
I know, I know. Just one thing at a time.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:10 am, Karyn Says:
Funny how that works out, no? You and your family are such good people. What a blessing to have each other.
March 20th, 2007 at 7:41 am, cce Says:
At some point, I’ve been warned, we’ll start to feel like we are the parents of our parents. It’s the natural cycle of things, I guess. They take care of us for so long and then it is our turn. Give us strength, this ought to be interesting and taxing and ultimately fulfilling!
March 20th, 2007 at 8:18 am, Meegs Says:
Very poignant. I’m am happy to not have to deal with this yet… but I know it will come around in the future.
I’m saving this post for later.
March 20th, 2007 at 11:11 am, uberstrickenfrau Says:
I’m a 40 ’something’ and the thought keeps occuring to me that I’m the grownup and I ought to think and act like one, and it kinda shocks me, ‘cuz I keep thinking the grown ups will step forward and make the decisions, then it hits me, I’m the grown up….
March 20th, 2007 at 11:29 am, Susan Says:
I KNOW! Where are the grownups when you need them?
Oh wait. That’s US. Dammit.
March 20th, 2007 at 11:59 am, The June Cleaver Diaries Says:
When I think about the fact that I’m the grownup now, it’s sobering to realize that my parent’s were flying by the seat of there pants, just like I am now. And my kids, just like I did when I was little, blindly trust that they are safe in this world and that Chris and I will always make the right decisions.
Oh, to be that innocent again…
Glad your parents are okay. And Wade rocks.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:32 pm, Jen Says:
Yeah, just WAIT.
March 20th, 2007 at 9:54 pm, Jack's Raging Mommy Says:
I have a hard time looking at my Maw Maw and Paw Paw, and then realizing my parents are now the age that my grandparents were when I was a kid and thought them old.
It’s also rough to see the aging in my parents and realize that they are indeed getting old and I can’t stop it.
March 21st, 2007 at 8:16 am, MamaChristy Says:
Goodness gracious. Your whole description of your parents with sinus infections and back troubles is my nightmare. Not because I wouldn’t want to take care of my parents, but because if I have to take care of them, they can’t take care of me! My parents took me to the urgent care clinic on Saturday and I don’t know what I would have done without them. It’s funny that you say you feel 12, because I felt the eact same way just a couple days ago.
And then I wondered for the millionth time why anyone in their right mind would let me leave the hospital with a baby. Can’t they see I’m not grown up yet?
March 23rd, 2007 at 1:15 am, Anonymous Says:
Your writing sounds like Ruth Reichl, my favorite memoir writer. I hope you are all well.