Breathing, Snoring, Living

You know how kids are young, you check on them multiple times when they are sleeping. Making sure they haven't covered their faces, they are breathing okay, they haven't kicked off the sheets and then you cuddle up to them and silently kiss their sleeping faces , careful not to wake them up. Then, you let out a deep sigh, and wish they wouldn't grow up so fast, though it is exhausting to run behind them, take care of them and mother/aunt them.

I feel that way as my parents grow older. So yes, we have painful adjustment issues - but when I hear them snore, and breathe (loudly, not so smoothly), I think a lot of those differences dissipate briefly. All that matters is hearing the reassuring sounds of living, and that you can be there within touching distance, not obscured by a dozen nurses, beds, tubes and visiting hours.