Antiquity

Can you believe today is the last day of September? Time sure flies when you're having fun. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my mom. I took her on some errands she needed to run and we had a nice lunch. I think we wore each other out. She will be 73 in March and I am always amazed at her ambition. What she thinks she can do and what she actually can do are two different things. She struggles with the things her body won't let her do anymore. She is going through a phase where she feels the need to get everything in order for her departure from life. While I admire and appreciate the measure she is going through to be organized I just don't feel the need to talk about it. I tell her "Write it down" and it will be taken care of, but then she'll think of something else or change her mind on something and we have to have this conversation all over again. Watching my parents get older has been a very sobering experience. My dad will be 80 in two weeks. I look at the two of them and I see so many things that could improve their quality of life, but they are both set in their ways. I can see how easily age sneaks up on a person. I can also see the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle. I wonder how they will get by, one without the other. I think about their years together. I know they've had rough times as everyone does, but I wonder what they count as rich experiences. They both come from a generation that has experienced so much. The depression, the wars, technology. They both have countless stories about picking cotton in the eastern states and moving west with their families. My dad retired from the Navy so he has countless "Sea Bee" stories. I guess we just never know what everyday occurances will become treasured memories that will be retold to our grandchildren. All families have stories. Today Dave and Kristin (and two of Kristin's friends) are climbing Half Dome at Yosemite. They left here at 4:00 a.m. so they could be on the trail by 7:00. They should come back with some beautiful pictures. Erik and I are stuck at home studying :(