A couple of days ago, after having worked on the recently shared Mindfulness Mansion & Keep Smiling - even though it's raining cats and dogs, I decided to start on yet another mini game. This particular game is dealing with the theme of communication.
It was inspired by a talk I had with my parents and my younger sister, lately, about the difficult - and for many scary - theme of death. Last Summer, the doctors discovered that my dad has a progressive form of pulmonary fibrosis. Having had open heart surgery 10 years ago, he's now a walking medicine factory.
Let's say that it's starting to become increasingly important to talk about certain things ( like the kind of funeral my dad would like to have ) you would rather not talk about. Now try to do that with a man who can hardly talk about his feelings and a woman who does not know how to get her husband to open up to her.
A screenshot of 'How to Talk with your parents', starring a mom, a dad and their kid
Last week, my dad wasn't feeling well. After working up a fever, he ended up in the hospital. It was discovered that he has pneumonia and the doctors decided on a penicillin treatment. I have spent the last couple of days with my mom and my parents' dog at my parents' house, dividing all house hold chores and visiting my dad daily ( in shifts ) in the hospital.
In case you were wondering: No, the dog didn't do any of the chores
Right now - almost as depicted on the screenshot of my game - my mom is sitting on the other couch, with her tablet on her lap. She isn't grumpy though ( as the character inspired by her ). My dad isn't hanging on the couch, but watching soccer from his hospital bed ( this was the case, at least, when I visited him around 7 PM yesterday and the day before yesterday ).
On a more positive note, it's getting somewhat easier to talk about serious stuff - his health - with ( my mom ) and him, especially now he's being actively treated for a pneumonia. Nevertheless, I am realizing more and more that it's at least as important to keep cracking jokes and talk about other things. To enjoy the time that we have together, even when we are doing ordinary things.
Although being in the now and being aware of the situation is extremely important, reliving fun stuff that happened in the past and making nice plans ( of things to look forward to ) for the near future is at least as important.
I am flying back to Portugal in less than 48 hours and am having mixed feelings about it but you know what, it's okay. I have a life too ;>)
I know that I'm not the only one who finds it difficult to talk with his parents about important stuff. Or, to rephrase that: I'm sure I'm not the only one whose parents are having difficulties talking about important stuff with each other and their children. That is exactly what inspired this game. Who knows, you(r parents) might learn from it too.
I decided to add a GIF with the very start of the game. Let's see where this game will lead to. No matter what, I will keep you all updated on the process.
P.S. When I was working on this post, my dad rang from the hospital. My mom just informed me that he told her he will be released tomorrow morning, so I will spend about 24 hours with both of my parents in their home, before my departure. Let's see if we talk about important stuff, sit on our separate sofas or whether we just crack jokes all the time ;>)
