Illustration: arvitalyaart (Shutterstock)
Nothing drives home the cold fact of your adulthood like the older generation passing away, as several of our readers pointed out.
From ffejie:
When I was 31, my girlfriend’s mother died suddenly and we had to arrange all the funeral, finances, and house because her father has a mental disorder and was wholly incapable. Our lives fully sucked from the planning and rearranging and it consumed all our free time for months. And my girlfriend never really got a chance to grieve because of it. She has been taking care of him since.
Golden Ballfield posted:
When the second parent also died.
Sometimes it’s not the death as much as what surrounds it, as Charlie points out:
When my mother passed, and I found myself wondering what the funeral plans would be. Then realizing that I was the one to make them.
Our parents don’t have to die for us to come-of-age. It can be about realizing that you’ve grown more mature than your folks, as 48crash found out:
When I had to mediate an issue between my parents. I was in my mid-20's and felt like I was the only adult in the room!
