Us baby boomers have reached that age where our parents are either
gone or sinking into their debilitating older years. It's hard witnessing
the aging process when it comes to our own parents. Body parts failing,
the mind weakening. Each month, my mom's memory fades back another
degree, as Alzheimer's takes its toll.
I
miss traveling with mom -- I went all over Paris with her as child,
all over Europe and Africa. We would sit together and reminisce
about those trips. But now there's a tenderness to old age, too.
We sit sweetly and quietly together, holding hands as we never
did in previous years, smiling at the simplest things, such as
the shape of a strawberry.
Contributor
Larry Massett took this trip last summer with mom, who's doing
great -- no major problems, even though she's approaching 90.
Larry's story brings up what so many of us can relate to -- there
is loss with the advanced age of parent -- but a child and an
elderly parent can gain something they never had, too.