It started out as I wanna do this for our parents. I just want to have them hang out with their friends and we'll provide some food, chai, and a comfortable place to hangout. I like these elders and I have more than 10 second conversations with them at masjid.
It was just what I was hoping for. My parents and their friends hung out and reminisced about the many experiences they'd had together for many years. That warmed my heart.
It was more though. I was thinking about the one couple in particular. Throughout my childhood I was probably over at their house hundreds of times. I remember doing something dumb at their house and needing stitches. I didn't give it a thought until just now, but I probably made a bloody mess at their house and basically forcing an impromptu sleepover. I didn't even realize it, but I probably ruined whatever he had planned for Saturday.
I'm a parent and I wouldn't be too put out if I had to take care of one of Yusuf's or Nooriya's friends in the same way. I'm in this odd stage of parenting though where sometimes I'm Yusuf and Nooriya's dad. That's going to be the case more and it's going to take some getting used to. For a long time, they were almost exclusively Taher and Zahra's kids.
This was the first time these older folks came to our house. This get together crossed a threshold. Zahra and I were no longer our parents kids only to them. We'll always be that and I will always be happy about that. We seemed to be something else now. Not their peers, but also not just their kid's friends.
I'm so lucky that Zahra is who she is. She had this way of engaging with them that really solidified this transition. The get together wasn't for us, but at the same time it was great for us. It made us feel good. I look forward to when our friends don't just see Yusuf and Nooriya as Taher and Zahra's kids.
Taher, do the thing that benefits someone else. It will likely benefit you as well and you just don't see it yet.
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