As We Grow Up, Our Parents Grow Older & We Need To Spend Time With Them Before It's Too Late

Sadly, often, it isn't even a priority.

I remember the first time I realised my dad is growing old.

I was going through a couple of photo albums. They were an assortment of some of the warmest moments of my childhood. As I flipped through the pages, I could see my dad's transformation from a young man with a black beard to the laugh lines around his shining eyes now.

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And that's when it hit me: as I grew up, my parents grew older. When I came to think of it, they are not as youthful anymore. The weak knees and the aching backs have already become an issue. The black hair has turned to a hue of grey. It¡¯s only a couple of years till it all turns white. They could even avail senior citizen benefits now.

It was a scary realization for me because as much as I understand the inevitability of ageing and death, I don't want to accept it. Especially not when it comes to my parents. And honestly, that's exactly where our generation goes wrong.

Given our lifestyle which is starkly different from the way our parents lived, it becomes very easy to take your parents for granted. For example, our parents were more family-oriented than us and often stayed at home even after marriage. On a lot of days, they would give up on their needs to fulfill their kids¡¯ requirements. However, we concentrate more on our professional and social life, which means a lot of us don¡¯t even stay with parents into adulthood and even if we do, we¡¯re mostly out of the house and don¡¯t show up till late in the night.

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In the middle of our daily schedules, we barely take time to interact with our parents. Often, it isn¡¯t even a priority.

Only recently, my parents called because they wanted to speak with their daughter who lives in a faraway city for her career. However, I was out with friends and promised to call them up later in the night but totally forgot about it.

I realised the extent to which I¡¯ve taken them for granted only after they called up late at night and told me they stayed up just to have a conversation with me.

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And isn¡¯t this exactly how we all take the presence of our parents in our lives for granted?

This is exactly how we reduce the people who raised us to just two people who happen to be our part of our lives when their lives are basically built around us, which clearly shows in the way they¡¯ve raised us. From supporting us to take our first steps to guiding us with our first job, they¡¯ve been by our sides all the time. They¡¯ve tolerated our teenage tantrums, provided for our needs while sacrificing their own desires and helped us have big dreams that now propel us forward in life.

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Even after all this, we barely look at them as a priority. In fact, we should make an effort to spend time with them given that they are growing old. We need to stop taking them for granted because we all come with limited time and someday, they won¡¯t be around. You don¡¯t want to feel like the wait between you guys never ended.

Once they are gone, you will only feel guilty about not having made the most of your time with them.

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No one is saying that you have to sacrifice your own social and professional life, but make sure you take out a day in the week to just spend with parents.

They¡¯re the least demanding set of people and would be happy just watching television with you, just like it was when you were a kid. Try to cook them a meal, talk to them about their younger days and learn all about their lives so that you can know more about yours because remember, without their story, your story isn¡¯t complete.

Nothing can stop your parents from growing old, because that is life, but what you can do is support them emotionally just like they did when you were younger. Start putting aside time for them, because you never know how long you have with them. Now that we¡¯ve grown up, it is time we set our priorities right and well, parents should be on that list.