Our Throw-away Society

Connie Castanera

One of the headlines on the front page of the Frederick News Post, on November 15^th, read "WILL YOU RECYCLE THIS PAPER?" While the article was intended to focus on the things we throw away, for me it brought to mind the concerns I have about how easily we throw away people, parents in particular.

A new job, college, or a new love interest can take us far away from the people that raised us, our parents. In most cases, these are the people in our world who care most about our health, happiness, and well-being. They are the ones that have dedicated a sizable chunk of their lives tending to our every need, and too often our every whim. Our success, health and happiness are at the top on their list of lofty goals they envision for us.

How do we repay them once we are grown? Many of us are loving, dedicated sons and daughters; however, others are too quick to cast aside the very people that love us unconditionally. Many describe their parents as useless and out of touch. They view their parents as old people that are simply clueless in today's world.

When parents try their best to guide their grown children in a direction that steers them away from potentially risky endeavors, they are accused of meddling in their children's lives. While it may be true that parents can no longer, and should not try to, run their grown children's lives; it does not justify throwing away people that are acting out of love and concern.

Parents invest a great deal of love, time, hard work, dedication, sacrifice and hard earned money into their children. When you invest that much, it's very difficult to step back and "let go." Sometimes a simple, "Thank you for sharing your point of view, I will consider your advice, Mom/Dad," is enough to make parents feel valued. We, as adults, need to run our own lives, but we can be kinder to our parents in doing so.

Our parents need to feel that they are still important in our lives. I feel that we owe it to them, after all that they have given to us. We are all very busy with our lives, but I feel that it is important to make time for keeping in touch with our folks. If we are parents, we are teaching our children how to treat parents.

This reminds me of a song that became popular in the mid 1970s, by Harry Chapin, called "Cat's in the Cradle." If you are too young to be familiar with the song, I'm certain that you can search the Internet to find the lyrics. I recommend it.

We will one day be either valued or thrown away.