Is there a magic
cutoff period
when
Offspring
become
accountable for
their own
Actions? Is
there a
wonderful moment
when
Parents can
become detached
spectators in
The lives of
their children
and shrug, 'It's
Their life,' and
feel nothing?
When
I was in my twenties,
I stood in a
hospital
Corridor waiting
for doctors to
put a few
Stitches in my
daughter's
head. I asked,
'When do
You stop
worrying?' The
nurse said,
'When they get
out of the
accident
stage.' My
Dad just smiled
faintly and
said nothing.
When I was in my thirties,
I sat on a little
Chair in a classroom
and heard how one of my
Children talked
incessantly, disrupted
the class,
And was headed for a
career making
License plates. As if
to read my mind, a
teacher
Said, 'Don't worry,
they all go through
This stage and then you
can sit back, relax and
Enjoy them.' My dad
just smiled
Faintly and said
nothing.
When I was in my forties,
I spent a
lifetime
Waiting for the
phone to ring,
the cars to come
Home, the front
door to open.
A friend said,
'They're trying
to find
themselves.
Don't worry,
In a few years,
you can stop
worrying.
They'll be
Adults.' My dad
just smiled
faintly
And said
nothing.
By the
time I
was 50,
I was
sick &
tired of
being
Vulnerable.
I was
still
worrying
over my
Children,
but
there
was a
new
wrinkle.
There
Was
nothing
I could
do
about
it. My
Dad just
smiled
faintly
and said
nothing.
I
Continued
to
anguish
over
their
failures,
be
Tormented
by
their
frustrations
and
absorbed
in
Their
disappointments.
My friends said that when my kids got married I
Could stop worrying and lead my own
Life. I wanted to believe that, but I was
Haunted by my dad's warm smile and his
Occasional, 'You look pale. Are you all right?
Call me the minute you get home. Are
You depressed about something?'
Can it be that parents are sentenced to a
Lifetime of worry? Is concern for one another
Handed down like a torch to blaze the trail of
Human frailties and the fears of the
Unknown? Is concern a curse or is it a virtue
That elevates us to the highest form of life?
One of my children became quite irritable
Recently, saying to me, 'Where were you? I've been
Calling for 3 days, and no one answered I was worried.'
I smiled a warm smile.
The torch has been passed.
PASS IT ON TO OTHER WONDERFUL PARENTS
(And also to your children. That's the fun)
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