PenPenWrites

As we age into our more mature years, many of us find our kids “parenting” us on the little things: telling us what to do about a checking account, giving us advice on how to dress for the weather or sharing the latest on what we should be eating for breakfast. Some of it’s helpful, even delightful; some of it isn’t.

On the delightful end, here’s a little gem I found amidst NYT’s Tiny Love Stories:

• Cathie Gandel wrote that for years she sent her sons off with the same blessing: “Take care of your little selves. You are precious and irreplaceable, and I love you very much.
• At the end of a recent visit with Matt, her 50-year-old son, she felt a subtle shift in their relationship. “After a final hug at the airport, Matt whispered to me, ‘Take care of your little self. You are precious and irreplaceable, and I love you very much.’ ”
• “Our roles may have changed,” she wrote, “but the blessing endures.”

Painting: Carole Baillargeon, “Au Couleur de la vie”