"There's a color the sky turns right before a tornado," said J.
"You've seen a tornado?" I asked.
"Oh yeah. I grew up in the midwest. I saw a lot of them," he said.
"Wow. What are they like?"
"Loud. The whirring of the storm is deafening."
"So if one was coming, what would you do?" I asked.
"Get in the basement. But once, when I was 12, my dad let me stand with him out on the porch and watch the funnel touch down. Then when it got really close, we went down to the basement with the rest of the family."
"Wow. So it was like a rite of passage?"
"Exactly, I was 12, the oldest kid in the family. Old enough to stand outside and watch."
"Very cool," I said.
J smiled.
At what moment did you realize you weren't a kid anymore?
At what moment did you realize you weren't a kid anymore?
xoxo,
Suzanne
I'm still waiting for that moment.
ReplyDeleteCool story!
I was 20 years old and my father called me at college. He'd been behaving weirdly for the past few months, but I was unprepared for his telling me that he loved me and that he had a brain tumor and was going to die. No intro. No prep. No nothing. Just the facts. His brain was too addled to do otherwise. I knew at that singular moment that I was no longer a child.
ReplyDeleteIt usually hits me when I'm doing something motherly with my daughter like baking muffins, taking her to the Dr.'s office or watching her ballet class. I think I have a nice balance between grown-up & kid.
ReplyDeleteThat thought has been tapping at my brain lately.
ReplyDeleteAge, I still find it hard to believe. Today I visited with my C's best friend and his wife. They have their first lovely little daughter. I got to feed little N and burp her and hold her real close when she was fussing, singing softly in her ear. I looked at her dad and felt so priviledged to be part of that scene. When leaving, hugging everyone good-bye, I told J that I loved him (how could you not after all these years!) and he responded likewise in a cracked voice. There are some bonds that feel better than being a kid.
Unfortunately, I was about 13 when I heard that my favorite older cousin had committed suicide. I'm still not over it.
ReplyDeleteYou mean I'm not still a kid? Oh....No actually it was when I learned my favorite cousin had been severely wounded in Viet Nam and might not survive. I was 18 and that brought a whole lot of reality into my life. (My cousin did survive but he was never the same.)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was allowed to start staying home alone when I was 7. I've always been 'grown up' for my age (which is something I am not thrilled about).
ReplyDeleteWhen I had to join my parents in hunting down my runaway younger sister.
ReplyDeleteI'm still just a kid & turing 40 in 2 months. My ass will be in the basement snackin on some beef jerky & drinking rum during all midwest storms - ma nature doesn't play around you know!
ReplyDeleteWhen I knew it was my brother Craig dressed up as Santa running through the backyard...
ReplyDelete