Anyone in my age group knows we are in a time period where our parents are dying at a quicker clip. The people that saved us from Monsters under the bed have become the shadowy figures in our lives.
I sandwiched a divorce between the death of my two parents as what could be marked as a dark period in my life.... it is actually full of love and happiness. I more or less lost three people who loved me. Well maybe two. Fortunately those two raised me to forge on and that is what I have done.
It's hard to come to terms that on bad days you don't have your parents home to go to for security and comfort, but knowing the faith they instilled in me has given me another way to find that blanket and hot chocolate.
I can't call them on the telephone, but I can think of them and call their name and suddenly they are next to me. Except when one of my kids has done something stupid. Then they shout down from heaven, "Busy right now, Karmaaaa!" Then I'm all alone parenting......
Parenting on my own.... I get to keep the love I inherited from a failed marriage. I have three children that have replaced my parents and their mother's love. Silver Lining.
If there is anything you can pull from this post it is my constant quest for the Silver Lining. IT"S OUT THERE! You just need the determination to find it. The loss of a parent, a divorce or even a pandemic has a silver lining! The sooner you can figure them out the sooner you are on the road to recovery.
The reason I wanted to make this point today is I came across a post from January 11, 2020. It mentions my dad and my oldest son. It made me think how quickly we go from being the little boy, to being the dad and then losing your parents. It also has similarities to my post from last Saturday.
"January 11, 2020
I had a good conversation with my father today. We reminisced about the past, talked about the present and we gathered our thoughts about heaven.
when I was a kid My dad would blare British Military Marching Band songs early on a Saturday morning to wake my big ass up. As I’d wipe the Sleepy’s out of my eyes he’d give me ten minutes to be in the car.
I’d get to the car and he’d either have Orion Samuelson on WGN or classical music on WNIB. Cigarette smoke billowing throughout the car. Ugh!
We’d go to a local diner and have breakfast. I’d listen to the world according to Don Shepley and then we’d go run errands.
Many of our errands we’d just drive around Chicago listening to the radio. My window always cracked for a break from the Marlboro smoke.
I learned the Chicago grid, Found the best bakeries, hot dog stands, magazine stands, cigar shops and Chicago history on those trips.
George is safe in his daddy’s bed not realizing that his time to wake up to The Coldstream Guard and go to breakfast is coming! No cigarette smoke, but a journey with Dad in the city by the lake!"
