There comes a time when we are sandwiched between caring for our aging parents and nurturing our growing children. This is no new revelation and an experience that many in their adult lives must navigate. I lost my beautiful mother a few years ago and very recently my father who was an icon, a pillar, and an anchor of our immediate and extended family. I walked around for the first couple of weeks in a cloud and feeling gut punched every morning I woke up. While I am still processing his loss, I have entered a state of deep reflection and existential awareness. Losing my mother was equally painful, but different. A world now without parents feels almost unfathomable and as if being lost at sea without a life raft. It has made me think about how I can make this natural and inevitable process easier for my own children.
What I wish to impart as it relates to the cycle of life is that we have so many ways to communicate, to teach, to impact, to support, to be real, to be open in conversation about difficult topics, and to think ahead, plan, and help our children be okay when we are no longer with them. For example, my husband and I decided that we will start a video library of messages we want to convey to our children when we feel inspired to share. In this way, we can leave an imprint that will always remain with them, help to make them feel better, secure, loved, reminded of the important things and moments in life, and to encourage them to live their own best lives. We all will die. If we can do so with grace and dignity and with knowing that we have taken control of what we wish to leave behind of ourselves, then we are the truly lucky and blessed ones!