Grandparents.... gotta luv 'em....

I think that whenever you take a stand on something, an issue, a faith, a decision, etc.; there's gonna come a time when what you stood for will be tested. Yes, it's a time when the thing that you fought hard for, and fought to convey to others will place you, the defender, in let's say... an "inconvenient" situation.
Mine seems to be that at the moment, my grandparents are driving me up the #$&^*@$ wall! XD

My original plan was to feel proud of myself for helping them out in their older years. Y'no, doing yardwork, making insurance phone calls for them, moving heavy objects, etc. With verve and enthusiasm i declared to my friends and co-workers that i had been that super-z grandson, even in my twenties, doing what most people would not.

I was feeling good, i was feeling in full Z-form, i was running right into a trap...

See, the problem is, that you can't just say that you are "family" and do a half-assed job in helping out. I mean, you could, but that would kinda defeat the purpose. Only thing is... do you really know what you are getting into when you make your bold declaration of commitment? Do you really know how far the rabbit hole goes?

I bet not...

I sure didn't when i volunteered to help my grandparents (both sides, one is widowed, the other is well... dramatic >.<) clean up their houses. Now when i say "mess" i really mean, "a whole life's worth of junk/trash/miscellaneous items placed randomly throughout the house, none of which the owner wants to give away/discard, which's combined presence causes a danger and a threat to life safety and mental stability."

...

Talk about boxes, talk about clothes from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Talk about old, rotting, mold-infested food tucked away in nooks and crannies. Talk about stacks and stacks of newspapers, Styrofoam McDonald's coffee cups, and used (YES USED) napkins... Miscellaneous building materials, yard tools, scrap metal, plaster and stucco. Kitchen appliances which haven't been working since the Beatles finished their last recording. Talk about dirt, and mold, and grime. The list goes on and on...

Now don't get me wrong, i luv my grandparents dearly. They do things on a regular basis which are loving and endearing, making me want to come back over and over again. It's just that when i'm there, i want to hit my head across an Aegis over and over again...

To me, it just goes to show that problems don't just "go away" with old age. In fact, many of those problems that we have in our youth can be compounded and worsen in our "golden years" if they're not dealt with. I mean, my grandparents are from a different age and time. Money and resources were scarce, and there were fewer distractions to deal with at that time. I'm sure sometimes there wasn't anything better to do than go through and organize your collection of Spam and Pork'n Beans, or actually sew and repair damaged, worn, or otherwise ruined clothing. Time may have eroded my grandparent's bodily functions, but to a large extent, it has not softened their memories of how hard life was during the World War II days. C'mon my mother's mother came from Japanese garrisoned Guandong province and Hong Kong. She raised rabbits for food cause she couldn't get a regular job. (of course she was 12 yrs old... but that's a mere technicality)

In any case, here we are in 2008, and they live in this day, as if they're supposed to have the strength, energy, and time of 1950. They live under a shadow of belief(delusion) that "they'll get to it," and that "it's not that bad."

So as i trudge through the Pashow Marshlands of junk mail and expired medications, i'm somewhat amused at the lengths and the depths of crap that can build up in a lifetime. Maybe if we hit hard times again in the future, we'll have to go back to that style of living. For now, it's probably better to travel light, to cherish your time, and knock out those things that have been holding you back from living life to your full potential. If not, as hard as it is to admit... there is a chance we may end up old, lonely, and in disorder in what should be the final bomb in the firecracker string of our lives. take care...