When Black and White mix

My parents are as black and white as they come. My mother is as light as a ripe banana and lets just say my father is quite blessed melanin-wise.

My mother has an opinion on everything including the workings of NASA. If she knows absolutely nothing about it, she will have an opinion on it. My father's only opinions come in the form of politics, athletics and our ridiculous ex-neighbours. My mother is an avid traveler and can tell you in detail the pros and cons of every international airline in every accessible country. My old man needs a 20 page report accompanied with a summary and a short documentary on why he should leave the house to go to the shops during non-working hours. My mother has a sophisticated sense of fashion. All her handbags are per-ordered, her suits come labeled in Italian and even the pants she chills with in the digs are wool with double lining. My father has one pair of shoes, two pairs of khakis and 4 shirts. If you met my father just after he woke up, you'd think my mother adopted him from a shelter. (he once came home bragging about a shirt, a tie and a pair of cuff links that he got for 500 bob at Garissa Lodge. He was hopelessly lost in Eastleigh when he stumbled on the bargain of a lifetime. Needless to say my mother was beyond horrified and the said clothing has not been seen since) My mother watches Nigerian and Mexican soaps with the passion and fervor of a student before a final. If it has no blood, fighting,shooting or investigation, my father naps quietly on the couch. Like I said, black and white.

But they found a way to mix their black and white into a nice grey colour that everyone has learnt to admire from a polite distance. My father will quietly listen as his wife explains in minute by minute detail what Alejandro did to Camila-Oh. My mother will sit quietly while her husband stubbornly refuses to ask for directions for the millionth time and they get hopelessly lost. They are both extremely bad with time, highly stubborn and unbending and extremely vocal when they know they are wrong about something. Facts none of their children mention lest we find ourselves on the streets.

However, from them we have learnt how to compromise for those we love. How to never give up on something you believe in. How to make the best of what life has given us. How to make impossible goals achievable. Mostly we have learnt that not everything is that serious and money, like everything else, comes and goes and where it goes is usually entirely up to us. I guess after more than 30 years with the same person, setting goals, fighting, compromising, growing, it goes without question that you learn how to make white and black mix and form a workable grey that both of you are pleased with. Hopefully I'll find the black to my white and together will find a way to mix it and form our own unique grey. Until then however, I am glad to bask in my parents gray until they kick me out.