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Hard Conversations with the Parents
My parents are amazing. I have watched them grow and evolve the past 40-some years of my life. There were many crossroads that I could see them going one way, but they chose the road less traveled, to be sure. They have always been “together”. That was never a question. The question has always been how they would respond to the realities of life that our large family would put them face to face with.
We don’t ask for these kinds of stretching experiences, but they are inherent in the job we take on when we have children.
I have six brothers and two sisters. We were all born and raised Mormon in the Midwest through the 80’s and 90’s. That bubble was about as safe as bubbles get. It was full of good people-good community and good family. I was beyond blessed.
But, over time, we all grew up. A couple of my brothers left the church. A few others dealt with some pretty severe addiction issues. We had one suicide attempt, PTSD, and talk of other mental health issues. Our family was starting to look a lot like other families…normal.
We were taught always to smile, “fake it till you make it”, and leave a space better than we found it, like good Boy Scouts. And we did. Those lessons were not lost on us.
But things got real when we all hit our 20’s and 30’s. These problems we faced, we faced…
