Growing Up

Growing up sucks. There is no other word that I can find in my vocabulary that sums it up quite so concisely as that. There is no easy way to grow up. It usually comes with pain and frustration and grief. These are the life experiences that teach us to stand on our own and deal with our own lives with or without the support of others. Sometimes it's when people are around, it is hardest to learn to grow from the experience. Occasionally it's something that you have to do on your own. And that can be the scariest thing in whole world to do.

Moving out of the house can be the first step in growing up, although this is often not what actually leads to growing up. It does allow for the growth of independence and development of important life skills. Moving out for the first time usually doesn't mean that you never come back though. There is always stuff that won't fit and still a deep attachment to those who you have grown up with. Holidays usually occur at the central location that has always been home as well. Moving out is hard and always help to force growing up.

While moving out is hard, I don't think that it's the hardest. The hardest part of growing up is realizing that your parents are human and not super heroes. It's around the time when you stop seeing your parents as parents and begin to think of them as friends. They become more human with the ability to make mistakes and not the perfection all should aspire to. Parents are allowed to screw up and make mistakes. They don't always have to put others before themselves. They sometimes need their own days off. They are allowed to get sick. They do the best that they can, but they are not perfect. They are very human. Their humanity can be the most comforting thing because it's not easy to befriend someone who is perfect. It's easier to befriend someone who is just like you.

Growing up sucks. But somewhere in between the tears and the fighting, the grief and the pain, growing up allows for the best adventures in life. It also lets you meet two of the best friends you can ever have.