Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. Every year is getting harder for me. She is getting closer and closer to turning 60 and I don't know why, but that scares the shit out of me.

She's 57 today (my dad celebrated his 56th in November). Some of you are probably chuckling, thinking, "Gosh, 57 is not old!" .... Well, no. But when I think about the fact that a close friend of my parents just lost his wife at the age of 53, and that my grandparents (dad's parents) died in their early 60's, it petrifies me.

I'm very close to my parents. It's obvious as we made the decision to have a house built so that we'd all be living together.

And trust me - there are days where I question what the hell we were thinking, and there have been a couple fights and disagreements. But, then I think about how much time I might have left with them. I don't know the answer to that. It could be 10 years, hell, maybe even 25. But, what if it's only 2, or worse yet, less than 1?

It wasn't an easy decision to choose to live with your parents again after moving out over 5 years earlier. And it isn't easy to live with them some days. But, when they are gone I'm sure I will look back at the time we spent in this house, and the memories we've shared here - and be thankful for that time with them.