I’m not one for holding back…I’ve learned vulnerability’s part of my survival…I have to share, or things build inside of me & the weight gets too heavy for my system.
But I’m gonna open up even more so than usual here, abt a personal experience…bc I’m almost positive it’ll be relatable to any adult human who reads this…it’s just stuff we don’t talk abt.
I had my niece’s bat mitzvah this past wknd. In the Jewish religion, these are pivotal moments – someone entering into adulthood. And it doesn’t matter if you practice a diff religion & the event is a baptism, a communion, etc., or you’re non-religious & it’s a Sweet 16, fam gatherings are always reflection pts as well as time capsules.
We have our old fam events on VHS (need to be digitized, but have watched them plenty in the past). And when you watch, you see: ppl who are no longer w us, dancing/smiling/laughing. See ppl who are still w us, w a youthful exuberance they no longer have.
When we grow up, our “grandparents seem ‘old’ to us.” While it’s crushing to watch that & lose them…bc they’re “older,” it’s not a shock when things break down/they pass.
But when we become an adult, & we watch things like: our own parents slow down & not have the energy they once had…hunched over a little more…their glowing smiles don’t come as easily, it’s literally crushing. It’s crushing bc in those time capsules (whether caught on tape or in the records of our brain) the comparisons are stark. Our parents, our friends: ppl just one generation above us or OUR generation – as we grew as children, THEY seemed to only get stronger & more solid.
But Father Time’s undefeated. And it’s so hard as we become adults to see others – lack the energy, not be able to dance, have a tough time dressing/seeming “put together” like they used to. It shows the fragility of life, front & center.
My niece’s party was beautiful in so many ways. I shared pics of my youngest 2 having the time of their lives, dancing a storm. But I’d be lying if I said I left the wknd feeling all “rainbows & butterflies.”
Watching life run its course is hard. We need to talk abt it. Happens to us all.