Last night, I was awakened by the news that my daughter had been accepted to her top college pick. As you can imagine, we were justifiably ecstatic. After a few deferrals from other schools, this was the one we’d all been waiting for.
This morning, around 7:30, I received a call from my mom, earlier than normal. I was sure she was as thrilled as I with the college news and wanted to bask in the glow. I answered cheerily, only to learn that 911 was on their way to my parents’ house, as my father was experiencing some strange symptoms, beyond his usual frailty and dementia.
It doesn’t get any more real than that. As I write this from my dad’s hospital room, it occurs to me that the cycle of life has not simply presented itself to me – it has knocked me upside the head.
We’ve been called the sandwich generation and I totally get that. But frankly, to be here to witness both the beauty and rawness of the change in seasons is to be fully, wondrously engaged in life and in the lives of those that I hold so dear.
