I don't make New Year's Resolutions. I've never kept a single one in my life so I don't bother with them. I do spend a lot of time thinking. Just thinking. And noticing. And when you put those two together, noticing and thinking you tend to see things.
Early in December PH's family had a Christmas gathering and it was wonderful to see all who could make it that day. PH comes from a very large family with many cousins who are spread out around the country so when we can see some of them we consider it lucky.
Babies in arms last year are toddlers now. Toddlers last year are starting school this year. When you see some people just once a year you can see the growth in leaps and bounds.
But something happened this year that I can't get out of my head. This year one of the nieces hired a professional photographer to wander around and take candid photos and what a treasure of moments they turned out to be. We even had a group photo taken.
And that's when it happened. On the way home while I was thinking I realized OMG. We are now them.
We are now the seniors. We are now the top of the pyramid. We are now the old folks. We are now the ones who no longer plan and organize and delegate and cook. We have passed the ladles and aprons on. And we have become 'them.' We are the ones who chairs have been placed for.
Now, don't get me totally wrong. While this was a bit of a slap in the face of realization, it is also WONDERFFUL to be the guest. Sometimes you just want to be the guest, don't you? Not be the one in charge and cooking? The second tier down has taken over the planning and delegating and it was wonderful to have nothing more to do than walk around with a drink in our hand and visit with everyone. And be thankful we are still walking.
I have not been able to shake this realization of who was sitting in those chairs for a month. I keep going back to it. We didn't put the toddlers in those chairs, we put the gray haired ones in the chairs.
We have been relegated to the chairs.We are now them.
It happens for sure. I am not the very top yet with our parents still with us, but I am feeling the generation gap.
ReplyDeleteLast winter was the time this became evident to me. I lost two aunts, one in November '22 and one in January '23. I looked at all those "old' cousins that came to the funerals. The gray hair, the halting walk, the discussion of surgeries, the things we can no longer eat, and on and on. It's a funny time to be going through. I always looked forward to the next phase of my life but this one has me baffled. I need to convince my kids to take the reins so like you say, "I can be the guest."
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWe are noticing the change in our family too. Mick and I still have our Mums, but they are in aged care, so our generation are coming up to be the older ones now, and yes, in Mick's family the next generation have taken over the reins of Christmas Day. It is a strange feeling.
ReplyDeleteYep we are the top tier here too, but somehow we are still cooking! Great photo of everyone together there.
ReplyDeleteOoooh, I love this post. We've moved into this category too, although, the younger generation isn't cooking much, so that part hasn't been relegated. It is a strange feeling though -- and not one I'm sure I like much. Anyway, it looks like you've been good and busy and have had a good year/holiday season!
ReplyDeleteI'm still doing all the organising too! I look forward to this next phase...
ReplyDelete