Daily writing prompt
What were your parents doing at your age?

That was 21 years ago, about half my life. I had just had my first child.

My parents had been divorced for about four years but got remarried right around this time. They still didn’t live together. They got remarried because my mom’s health was really bad and she needed the health insurance my dad’s job provided.

My dad was working at the first and only steady job I’d ever known him to have, and had been there for about 15 years. He was overnight maintenance for a college. He occasionally stayed at my mom’s house for ease. Mostly he just stayed to himself in his little tiny cottage in the mountains.

My mom was in and out of the hospital, and ICU, for her health problems. Those health problems were mostly caused by the drugs she refused to stop taking. She had multiple strokes around this time, maybe a year or two before, so she couldn’t talk well. She tried to be the best grandma she could be but wasn’t willing to stop the things that kept hurting her.

So, when my parents were my age, they were barely making it. My mom didn’t do much besides sit at home, and my dad worked to support her.

Emily Busick Avatar

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