The pencil and the eraser

Remember what the pencil-maker told the pencil?

Now the pencil is feeling sorry for  the eraser. 

Pencil: I'm sorry

Eraser: For what? You didn't do anything wrong.


Pencil: I'm sorry because you get hurt because of me. Whenever I made a mistake, you're always there to erase it. But as you make my mistakes vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each time.

Eraser: That's true. But I don't really mind. You see, I was made to do this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong. Even though one day, I know I'll be gone and you'll replace me with a new one, I'm actually happy with my job. So please, stop worrying. I hate seeing you sad.

I found this conversation between the pencil and the eraser very inspirational. Parents are like the eraser whereas their children are the pencil. They're always there for their children, cleaning up their mistakes. Sometimes along the way, they get hurt, and become smaller / older, and eventually pass on. Though their children will eventually find someone new (spouse), but parents are still happy with what they do for their children, and will always hate seeing their precious ones worrying, or sad.

All my life, I've been the pencil. And it pains me to see the eraser that is my parents getting smaller and smaller each day. For I know that one day, all that I'm left with would be eraser shavings and memories of what I used to have.

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Are you always the pencil in this instance?  I think most of us are like the conventional pencil with an eraser attached to its end.  Sometimes we are the pencil, and at times we are the eraser.  As time goes by, not only the eraser gets smaller, the pencil itself also gets shorter!  If we can behave ourselves, we don't have to erase and rewrite.  This will  prolong the pencil as well as the eraser!