I love my parents. They have a way of making me feel good. Maybe not about myself, but about the rest of the world. Sometimes they make me think that those starving kids out there who didn't get my left over liver when I was five might be better off than I am.
Parents are great.
I called mine this weekend. It had been a bit, and I thought I should let them know that MyWife had moved out of the house. So I call, and my little sister answers. Now I say "little sister, but she's 25 with four little girls, and her marriage seems to be better than mine, so [shrug] I dunno. I'll always remember her as this:
That's the bedroom of an 18 year old Rob. Forgive the mess, I'll repeat EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD Rob. My messes are far more grown up now. Besides, The room would be barren within a month: After I graduated I moved to DC for a year, just 'cuz I could. I said good-bye to my little sister the night before I flew out. I gave her a big hug. She was a little freaked, because she didn't understand the long term implications of "good-bye." I did. My parents divorced when I was 4. I've since learned that I'm not as immortal as I thought I was, but good-byes can last eternally.
But that little girl, the one in the picture, she's the little girl I taught to sing "Cum on Feel the Noise" before she could walk. Yeah, I make my parents proud. But like it or not, I instilled musical values in her life. She's since denounced Quiet Riot and all that they represent.
She makes me proud.
"Hey Robby!" She's the only one who gets away with that.
"Hey! What's up?" We pass around small talk for a bit. Her husband's looking for work, and she's staying with the folks as long as possible. I'm sure my parents are thrilled. Or at least were until the end of month one. She's got her own problems, and we quickly exchange small items from our baggage, We're adults now, and mature enough not to go into the whole, "My problems are bigger than your problems" banter.
Mine are so bigger though, so there nya.
Later my Mom gets on the phone. She's a wonderful woman and she means well, but sometimes her approach is all shock and "awww."
"So how are you doing?
"Oh, you know…I'm fine as can be expected."
"Good, because we were worried about you."
"Worried?"
"Well yes, because you don't have any friends out there and you're all alone."
Well when you put it that way mom, I can see why you're worried. Hang on a sec and I'll get my gun. "It's not that bad mom."
"Well we worry about you. Have you written your cousin? You aren't even writing anybody regularly are you?"
"I'm doing my blog, Mom. So I'm writing."
"That's not what I mean. I mean writing to real people, and real people writing to you. You know, people who care about you."
BLAM! I'm Daffy Duck from all the old "Wabbit Season/Duck Season" cartoons. Thanks mom. "I'm fine Mom."
"If you say so."
So now I'm not just lonely, I'm a lonely liar. Great. There's an uncomfortable silence, I think she's waiting for me to cry. Having failed the first strike, she continues from the flank, "So what happened to your dog?"
"What do you mean? Nobody shot him if that's what your asking."
"No! I know she took the cats. What did you guys do with the dog?"
"Oh, I kept him. I have a yard."
"Oh, good I was worried."
About me or the dog?
I guess a dog is that bridge across the chasm of loveless abyss? I had no idea. I don't know if I'd have made that leap tethered to a canine, but it's Mom, what are you going to do? Like I said, she cares, it just kinda comes out like silly string and Anesthesia.
Dad, he's about perfect on the subject. We were never that close. I liked music, he liked sports. I liked fantasy, he liked spy stories. No, we were about as different as you get, but the other day he said something I'll never forget. He said, "You know, despite all the little things like your music and crap like that, you and I are a lot alike, especially where it counts."
He couldn't have been any cooler if he had said, "You know Son, I'm actually the ruler of a small island in the Caribbean. We left when you were young so that you wouldn't get spoiled. Today, I want you to go back and reclaim your rightful title, and rule with an iron fist."
Ok, maybe that would have made him cooler. I can't tell; he didn't say that. So I have no perspective. But, what he said really touched me, because he is my idol. I know it's cheesy and you're all already hitting the back button to somebody else's blog, but it's true. The things he's done for the family, the times he's stood up, and the sacrifices he's made. If I could be half that man, I'd be honored.
Ok, enough schmaltz. I'll leave you with somebody else's view on parents:
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