Nearing the End

Nearing the end could mean a lot of things:  end of 2021, end of November, end of COVID (wishful thinking!) or the end of my life.  And probably all of those things.  (I'm 65 so most of my life is in the past).  

COVID has reared its ugly head higher than ever lately in our fair city.  Our counts are the very highest they've been since this all began.  Children and the homeless have been particularly hard hit.  Our church is closed again; sorority went on-line for its November meeting, and our last Bible Study was on-line as well.  I can only hope/pray that somehow this turns a corner in the right direction soon!

But this is what really prompted me to write:  I looked out the window to see one of my son's elementary school chums cleaning the end of our driveway after I told him about the 'snow boulders' left my the city's street scrapers.  Mark owns his own business, and uses a tractor and loader to clean driveways.  I remember him at school with Brent, going through some friend struggles, then going to university together (didn't last long for Mark, and too long for Brent!), and Brent standing up at his wedding, helping him with his landscaping business, and Mark's wife attending Brent's wife's baby shower.  Another of Brent's friends, this one from high school, is my dentist.

Add to that the fact that all three of my kids are parents now...Brent and Gillian had a baby boy one week ago.  Adam and Renee are excited to see their son struggling to master the art of crawling.  And Jodi and Justin are enjoying two stages...parents of a 12 year old and a 3 year old.  

The group that was once the 'kids' (my own and their crowd) are now parents, working at important jobs, caring for others, and managing productive lives.  I'm past all of that.  I'm on the outside looking in at the family-driven commerce that keeps our economy rolling.  My husband and I become the ones to whom others provide the care.  It is an interesting change.  

But...we still help our kids.  (I've been dog-sitting lately, Steve helps with odd jobs when needed).  It's just that we are the helpers, not the main do-ers any more.  That's how it is at this end of life's continuum.  

And, I guess, that is pretty ordinary!