Life the past few months has been a reminder that I am growing older, especially facing an empty nest. However, in all my focus to deal with seeing my own children grow older I have honestly lost sight of the fact that my own parents are also growing old… My parents stopped by the other day to drop off a belated birthday gift since I had an out of town trip in Arizona on my actual birthday.

After they finished visiting I watched as my parents leave my home and walked down my front steps toward their car. My father took my mother by the arm and slowly and carefully helped her step down the small steps of my porch. As I watched them walk away it hit me really hard that my parents were growing old… it hit me almost by surprise, which is crazy because it’s not as if they have become old all at once. It has been happening slowly over the span of many years.

But because my own life has been going through so much transition and change due to my kids growing up and moving out over these last few years, I had somehow simply failed to notice just how much my own parents were aging… and it made me feel sad. As a child you see your parents as these invincible adults. We see our dads as these big strong men who work hard, protect us, and just take care of things.

We see our moms as our caretakers who are always there to make sure our needs are attended to and that we always know we are loved.I don’t know about all of you but for all of my life when I looked at my parents they seemed to be frozen at the same age. All through my growing up they looked the same age to me. Strong and energetic and young. That is how they have always seemed to me. Always, that is, until now.

Now I see a sweet little white-haired mother who is frail and breakable, and a gray-haired father who walks a little slower than he used to. Both now in their mid-seventies, the realization has finally dawned on me that one day (and I hope for many more years) these two people who have been the absolute rock and foundation of my life may no longer be on this earth with me.

I can’t even think about it without breaking down in tears. Even as I write this, tears well up in my eyes. I am not prepared for the day when my parents will no longer be with me. I simply am not. They have been my guides and anchors throughout my life. When I need advice, I know I can call my father, and when I need sympathy, I know I can call my mother.

And I don’t want to think about the day when I won’t be able to pick up the phone or knock on their door and have them answer it. However, it is a reality that I must begin to remember so that I do not take each moment I have with them for granted. I need to spend more time with my parents. I need to prioritize spending quality time with them.

I need to make sure I get their advice on things I should know for the future now so I don’t miss out on it while they’re both still here with me. I need to ask them to tell me more stories about their lives and all the lessons they’ve learned that might be useful to me someday. I need to make sure I tell them how much I love them and how much they mean to me while they are still alive to hear it.

Every one of you reading this blog has aging parents if you are still fortunate enough to have them on this planet. The reality is that no matter how old your parents are, any of us could lose them at any time. Let us all make an effort to spend more time with them, express more love to them, and make them feel appreciated while they are still with us.