I finally figured out what’s been happening to my parents these last few years. It hit me on Friday. I was playing at the KidsFirst Poetry Slam™. The plan ran thusly: first I would play a solo acoustic set, then guitar with Chris, Tim and Shawn, then I would play with the Flying Men of Zimbabwe. I tried to tell my dad this.
“So just one band is playing?”
“No, three bands, and I’m in all of them.”
“So you and the Zimbabweans are playing together, right?”
Then my mom cut in. “No, there are three different bands, and he’s playing in each of them.”
It was at this moment, when my mom explained what I was saying to my dad, that I realized my parent’s metamorphosis. They’re turning into my grandparents. It started happening so slowly I never noticed. First, my dad’s eyesight started going. Then his hearing. He would mishear things, then my mom would reiterate them. This is what my grandpa and grandma used to do all the time. My grandpa usually couldn’t follow movies without a running explaination from my grandma. It was a typical old person thing: the wife would explain to her not-listening husband.
My parents are doing this more and more often. It’s starting to freak me out. How long until my dad changes his wardrobe to just jumpsuits? How long until he starts slathering mayonnaise on everything, including cereal? How long until my mom starts clipping every coupon in the paper?
It’s awful, because they are slowly losing their ability to function as normal adults. Granted, the change will take years, but it’s happening. My parents are becoming my grandparents. And you know the scary thing?
That means I’m becoming like my parents.
Creepy.
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