Ugh, okay. So, like, I dunno if this is even a thing? Like, am I being stupid? Probably. Whatever. It’s 2 AM and I can’t sleep and this is, like, bugging me. You know? So I was back home last weekend, seeing my parents. My folks, you know, still on the farm. Not like a big farm anymore, more like… they just kept a few acres, a few cows, some chickens. My mom, she's like, almost 80. Dad's still out there messing with stuff, but Mom, she kinda… drifts. Sometimes. Not all the time, just sometimes. And it’s… I don’t know. It’s hard. I’m 52, I’ve got my own kids, like, grown kids. One’s in college, one’s got a job, you know? My life is… spreadsheets. Performance reviews. Office politics. Not, like, actual politics, but the office kind. Anyway. So I’m over there, helping Dad fix a fence, cuz you gotta help, right? And it’s, like, 6 AM. Six. And I hadn't had coffee yet. And Mom comes out with a tray of stuff, like, breakfast stuff. And she sees me, and she’s got that look, you know, that kinda blank look for a second, and she just says, "Oh, good, the new boy's here." The new boy. I mean, my dad just looked at me, like, a quick look, and then back at the fence. He didn’t say anything. I just stood there. With the hammer. And the wire. The new. Boy. I just kinda… stared at her. And she looks at me, like, really looks at me, and then her eyes kinda clear, and she’s like, "Oh! It’s you, honey! You’re up so early!" Like, nothing even happened. NOTHING. And I just said, "Yeah, Mom. Just helping Dad." And I took a biscuit. A cold biscuit. And I just… kept working on the fence. But the whole time, like, every single time I bent down, or swung the hammer, or whatever, all I could hear was "the new boy." The new boy. And it’s not even that I look, like, that young. I mean, I don’t think so. I’ve got gray hair, you know? And a bit of a… you know. Dad bod. But it just… I don’t know. It got to me. Like, am I just some random guy now? To her? Not her kid? Is that what happens? Like, you just become… just another person who shows up to work? It’s not like I was wearing, like, my suit and tie, but I wasn’t wearing like, overalls and a straw hat either, you know? Just jeans and a t-shirt. Like, normal stuff. I just… I can’t stop thinking about it. Like, even now. Every single day. Every day this week. I keep seeing her face, that blank look, and then "the new boy." And I guess it’s just… it’s what happens, right? With old people. They forget things. But it still kinda… stung. You know? Like, a lot. And I don’t know why. It’s stupid. It’s just stupid. But here I am, 2 AM, typing this out like some kind of… I don’t even know. Just. Yeah. The new boy.