I guess I get used to things being a certain way and then when they aren't anymore, I feel a little off.
Possibly it's just that I'm overly dramatic and like to make a bigger deal out of situations than they really are.
When I visited my grandparents last night, little did I know it was the end of an era.
You see, when I was growing up I spent a lot of time at my grandparents house. And my favorite thing to do was play Barbie dolls with my grandma. We'd hole up in my purple bedroom, playing Barbies for hours. If it weren't for her frequent smoke breaks or having to go start supper, we'd have set a record of some kind.
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| {my grandparents' house, beautifully drawn by my aunt Michele} |
The only problem was, it was hot. My grandparents' house had been a small farm house that was added onto a little at a time until it reached the state it was in when they bought it. They moved into it in the early 1960s. No air conditioning of course, because I guess people didn't have it back then. But by the time I came along (the 80s), air conditioning was much more common.
All my other family had it, even if just window units. But not my grandparents.
My grandma was really skinny and smoked a lot. She drank ginger ale and was cold all the time. So I guess she didn't care about not having air conditioning. And my grandpa is from Texas and loved being as hot as possible...especially when he was outside.
I can remember staying with them in the summer, trying to fall asleep at night and being so hot the sheets stuck to me. Or while we were playing Barbies, my legs would get sweaty behind the knees and I'd end up with carpet fuzz all over me.
A few years later, they got a window air conditioner. I guess they must have liked it, because this led to getting another, then another, and another until finally they had one in every room of the house. I didn't spent as much time with them since I was getting older, but those window air conditioners cooled the house down pretty well.
But last night, when I went to visit them, I learned they got central air conditioning. To feel cold air coming from a vent on the floor at their house was like nothing I've ever experienced. My grandma can't figure out how to work the digital thermostat, but neither could I so we read the manual together.
It's not like getting air conditioning is life shattering. But it's just bizarre for something that's been one way your whole life to up and change like it's no big deal. It's not really about the air conditioning because I'm happy for them to feel more comfortable in their home. But this is not something I thought would ever happen.
Has this ever happened to you...where something you thought was the norm just up and shifted?
Has this ever happened to you...where something you thought was the norm just up and shifted?
