Changing Seasons
By: Christine Hersom
(3 min read)
As I watch my daycare parents struggle to do work, life, and children, it brings it all back. I remember being a working mother and going to school full-time. It seemed like we could never get ahead in time or money. These memories seem like they were only yesterday.
I remember my parents and my husband’s parents asking how we were getting it all done. They said they were never that busy and stressed out. At the time, I believed them. I figured we were workaholics and trying to do too much. We lived by the mantra that a little hard work never hurt anyone.
Now that I am older, I look back and realize that when I was a child, my parents were busy too. They worked, had three kids, took kids to all activities, and never seemed to miss a beat. I am going to say that is how their parents raised them. In turn, that was how they raised us. We all do what we need to do.
Once my kids were grown, I would look back and think…it wasn’t that busy. But it was. It is easy to forget the craziness once things quiet down. Now I watch my children struggle to work, raise families, live a happy and healthy life, and wonder…how do they do that? They are going in one hundred directions at once.
I guess the seasons are changing.
Our family and extended family have had a few health scares in the past six months. I am starting to realize that we are no longer the “younger generation.” As a matter of fact, I had an epiphany the other day. I realized that not only are we not the “younger generation,” we have passed through the “middle generation” also. We were young adults, then adults with children, then empty nesters. Both of our parents have passed now. Now we are the “older generation.” At first, this realization was very disturbing. I mean, where did the time go? It was only yesterday that I was introducing my new baby to my grandparents. I can’t be the “older generation.” I don’t feel old. It has been hard digesting this bit of information.
I remember when we would all gather at our parents’ houses for the holidays. All the children would be present, and we would have all our children with us too. The gathering was large and boisterous. I loved those days. I remember looking at our parents and thinking these days will not last forever. Our parents were getting older, and it was showing. Let’s face it…nobody lives forever.
Now we are our parents. We are getting older and slowing down some. Our health problems are coming faster than the black flies after a rainstorm. It has been a hard six months realizing this.
A dear friend of mine is very sick right now. This diagnosis slapped me upside the head. Although I know better, I figured this friend would live forever…or at least as long as I needed him. He won’t. Although I have experienced the death of many family members, this one is going to be hard to accept. I want to curl up like a child and throw a tantrum. This season is one I never want to change.
This diagnosis has made me take a hard look at life. It is time to take some of the stress off the children and finish our end-of-life plans. There are cremations to buy, burial sites to pick, and it’s time to prepare the children for what we want. While we aren’t dying this minute…the time is coming that we will be.
How the seasons have changed. It seems like yesterday that I first became a mother. Now my oldest grandchild is almost fifteen years old. Where did the time go?
I know that there are important things that we all need to get done. We need to work, raise our families, and help make the world a better place. Let’s take the time to enjoy the life we are building. We only have one life. Let’s not work so hard today to save for tomorrow. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. So, while the seasons are changing, let’s live in and enjoy each season we get to see.
Christine Marshall Hersom
All Things Wellness, LLC
christinehersom@yahoo.com
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