mrislam

Spending time with many grandparents, a universal trait I have found across them all is how they have no life. Staring at the TV in the evening, and hoping the garbage man stops by in the morning so there's someone coming to visit. It's a sad state they're in, one that people decades younger often share with them.

But what makes their case special is that they fill the hole in their lives with the lives of their grand-sons and -daughters.

A sense of pride and gladness is their right of course, but the unhealthy reliance upon their offsprings' lives as something that gives meaning to their own seems extremely unhealthy.

Going through albums of graduation photos, Harvard this, award that, summa cum loud, and then lists of where they have worked — IBM, Amazon, Google. Then the PhD daughter gets extra special mention, prestigious organization bla. Then come the wedding videos (which I have a whole other set of complaints about) of a bride in various poses, phony dances and lighting, and a crowd who are glad that the food was finally served.

Each life has purpose, and it angers me to see older peope resigning to nothing but living through their progeny and making that their accomplishment in life. There's a lot they can do even in their old age, and seeing their sad state makes me fear what might become of my parents. Or, even myself.