真正的成长，从不取决于年龄_大学英语阅读

真正的成长，从不取决于年龄

“I feel like I’ve aged[31] 20 years in one week,” I texted a friend one night. Suddenly I was living in the suburbs, driving myself around and caring for an ailing[32] parent. For the first time in my life I was responsible for the well-being of someone other than myself, and the magnitude of that fact was staggering.[33] It finally dawned on[34] me that I really wasn’t a kid anymore. This illness may not have been too severe, but as my parents advanced in age, who knew what lay ahead? Would I ever be able to care for them as selflessly as they had cared for me? Was anything ever going to be the same?

I texted the one person I know who would understand the unfamiliar emotions that left me so unsettled[35]. “Being a grown-up sucks[36]. I don’t think I like it,” I wrote to my brother. “No one does, Beany,” he replied. “No one does.”

When my dad was finally discharged[37], I changed my flight one last time to stay through the weekend and settle him back into his routine. I cleaned his apartment, did laundry, cooked enough food to last a few days, and picked up his prescriptions[38]. I made a list of what pills to take and when. I arranged with his building to have someone dig out his car whenever it snowed. When he insisted on going back to work the next day, I insisted on driving him, not sure if the medications would make him drowsy[39] behind the wheel. I pulled right up to the entrance. “Do you have your lunch with you?” I asked. “Yes, Beany,” he said with a chuckle[40] and held it up to show me. Then I waited and watched until he walked through the front door. I now know what mothers feel like sending their kids off to the first day of school.