The folks
All my oldies are falling ill. All of them aren’t really that old, only in their 60s, but a lot of them have something serious going on.
When I was growing up I was lucky to have an extended family of parents, and am lucky even now to still have a village bringing me up.
First there are my parents. Then there is my uncle and aunt who now live in Chennai (I have many lovely uncles and aunts but these two are special) who took on the role of paternal grandparents, since we never knew ours. Then my parents friends. Two couples in particular. One set doesn’t have children of their own and sort of adopted me. They were my refuge in the Delhi years. And one adopted grandmother, the mother of the Delhi mother. The other set had a child of their own but R2 and I are their other two, and their daughter like a sister.
One of the reasons I do a Bharat darshan when I visit India is because of all these parents.
So many of them are ill, some seriously so. At times like this, I just hate that I am not there, helping them.
My parents had me “late”, ie later than was the norm at that time, so often my peers tend to have younger and healthier parents.
Not everyone has been so lucky as to have so many adoptees/surrogates as I have had. But what that means is my heart is in various bits of India at the moment.
Lucky you and lucky them
Here’s hoping all your parents get well soon.
I can so relate to that Ra. Us three siblings don’t live in different continents and it kills us when mom and dad fall sick. Like chox said lucky they have you and you have them. Here’s wishing them a speedy recovery and to your heart being spread across various cities for love rather than to worry about them!
Hoping they would get better soon. And that you would not worry so much. Your prayers and wishes will travel continents even if you can’t.
Best wishes,
Anjali
Hope they all get better soon.
Isn’t it wonderful having so many claimants to your affection?
Though I can imagine how hard it is to be away from them when you are needed.
I hope they all do better soon.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Here goes a famous line in the poem “Strive to be Happy’
http://www.fleurdelis.com/desiderata.htm
Distance often tends to magnify the situation .So Take heart . I learnt to live with , what now looks like , a smaller distance of 600 kms.There is another way around it , too.Get someone in each of these cities to run the small errands on your behalf. I do it for a lot of my overseas friends . I can make the occasional visit on your behalf or take an emergency call.
Hope you are feeling better , now
Kji-much better thanks! And thanks for your kind offer. It is true that distance lends itself to dark imaginings!
Here’s wishing they all get better soon.
Best wishes to you and your loved ones!
This is the price we pay for choosing to live far away from home. All my friends and I are going through this now, worrying about aging parents, and anguished that we cannot be there for them as much as we’d like to. However, many of my friends who live in India, in different cities from their parents, find they are facing the same pressures. But as long as there is a network of friends and other family to reach out to, things will be fine. It’s hard not to kill oneself with guilt, though.