In the living room, ice cream wrappers were scattered across the coffee table among empty chip bags and a plastic carton that recently served as home to vanilla creme-stuffed cookies. As I moved through the house, empty beer bottles and stacks of dirty dishes met me in the kitchen.
"I was gone for about ten hours," I thought. "What the hell happened?"
Slowly, I picked up the remnants of my parents' day at home alone. I threw out the trash, washed dishes and prepared dinner for that evening. As we gathered around the table, we talked about my day at work and then I finally asked the dreaded question.
"So... what did you guys do today? It looks like the house was filled with teenagers on spring break," I said.
Mom and dad laughed. Mom defiantly put her fork on her plate, leaned on the table with her elbows and replied, "You know, I used to spend a lot of time keeping a clean house. I just don't give a shit any more."
