It's raining lemons

There's a point in life where you realize that time really does pass, and you have to grow-up. This isn't necessarily shown in moving to college or becoming independent and getting a job, but in the lives of the people who bore us, raised us--our parents.
We're coming to an age where our parents are rapidly approaching life beyond middle-age. Life where they stop becoming the care-givers--a position that comes to us, the children.

I was awakened by this suddenly. Last Wednesday, my dad had a heart catherization to see if he had a blocked artery. He said it wasn't painful, but the process sounds more painful than it actually might be. One artery is blocked partially, the doctor says that could be solved with medication that he must take for the rest of his life. Thoughts then materialized about what life would be like if my dad had died. What would happen to our house? What would happen to my mom? What would happen to me?

I'm not the first of my friends to ask questions like these. Two of my friends have dealt with this and continue to deal with this. One lost her father in the beginning of her college career, and another's mother is fighting cancer. I can't begin to imagine what they've gone through and the continuing struggle. Their strength continues to amaze me.

That's what I find most startling about this process of growing up. It's not the reality of getting jobs and paying bills, but of standing alone emotionally and physically. Having to battle whatever crops up, and not having it magically erased by someone else. These are the lemons life throws at us I suppose. But that doesn't mean I have to like lemonade.