At some point in the last twenty years, my parents bought these ginormous nutcrackers for Christmas decorations. After having them up, they realized that the nutcrackers helped guard people from tripping on the step that went down into their sunken living room.
And so they stood as sentinels to guard the unwary for many, many years. They became one more endearing quality of time spent at my mom and dad’s house.
After we moved my mom out of her house in May, some dear friends of my parents inherited the Nutcrackers and the Hutch that once stood in mom and dad’s dining room. She sent this picture to my sister today to show how loved the items are.
I am so glad that someone who knew and loved my parents now owns these. But I couldn’t help but cry at the knowledge that I will never again walk into my parents house, see those nutcrackers and hear my dads sonorous “Hello!!!” followed by hugs from him and my mom
I read something the other day that said that if you are in your 30s or 40s that it means your parents have somewhere around 20-30 years left on earth. And if you don’t live near them and see them just a few times a year, that you have approximately 40-60 days left with your parents.
I thought about how the last 4 years of my dads life we lived in another state. How hard it was to see him get older and his heart weaker and know that I was missing out on that time with him.
So even though it can be hard to help my mom and watch her slowly disappear to dementia, I see her at least 8 times a month right now. And for however long she has left in the earth, I will look back and be glad.
So if your parents are still alive, go visit them. Tell them you love them.
And if you ever went to my parents house, you know about the Nutcrackers and know that it was one more thing that made my parents special:)
