Settling in quite nicely after a couple of weeks in our new house. Daughter and I had to move when my mom and I had our big falling out the night I came home after being oversees for 2 weeks.
No worries, though, we have fallen back in, so to speak. But here we are, living away from each other.
Adult children with needy, aging parents will understand how aggravating it could be to have a parent nag at you like you’re still a teenager (or is it just me? LOL), especially if you live with them. You still can’t sass them, oh no! So you try to save your 40-ish old face in front of your siblings or kids by trying to justify your actions in a calm, mature manner (often times to no avail), until you want to scream that same face off due to frustration.
There is also a mixture of guilt and sense of freedom, which is hard to explain. How do you decide on what’s best? You have a sense of moral obligation to your parent, to whom you owe your life, and maybe whose approval you worked all your life to win; and then there’s just relief that you don’t have to answer to anyone but yourself.
So we’re trying it out for now, this living apart. I visit during the weekends, and we’re set to go on a road trip tomorrow. Seems like there is acceptance, and less ill-will toward the set-up. I’m starting from scratch all over again, like I did when I got married 16 years ago. And then when we separated. But that’s another story reserved for another time.
For now, I soak it all in. I’m home.
(Re blogged from Tumblr post, March 2014)
