My parents are two very unique and distinguishable individuals. I could write a blog about each one of them, but I won't. They are the model of a team. As any couple that has been married 25-years-plus can attest to, the going sure gets rough. What not every couple of that generation can attest to is faithfulness.
I am a child of parents who love each other, and for them Love is not just an emotion. It is a decision, it is a reality, it is an incontrovertible Truth.
Family may not be the most important thing, but as I slowly leave behind childhood and youth, replacing them with adulthood and even parenthood, I am feeling my family ties increasingly. As I play with my son I remember the moments Mom shared with us engaged in our favorite activities (or paying for them). I recall the endless sports games that Dad refused to miss because he valued his only son's athletic prowess more than rest or even dinner. I remember telling my mom that it wasn't fair that she drove Ginny to chorus practices every week and even listened to her sing, but never stayed with me at the horse barn on Saturdays. I remember her crestfallen face and how I immediately regretted my selfishness. For of course, she had just driven half an hour each way to get me to my dusty extracurricular and would spend much more time paying for my ventures and making me lunches to take along. Not to mention the fact that she would sit and tell me over and over again her own stories from childhood on horseback and impress me, inspire me with her stories of rodeos and bareback adventures.
My parents both drive towards perfection. It is a striving and an endurance that can be felt as soon as you step into Mom's crisp Florida house or collapse on a guest bed that is fluffed and ironed with clean lines. You will note it when you see the stack of books Dad is reading even though he works long hours learning how to run a company that needs leadership. The way they dress themselves and cook delicious dinners, the manner in which they handle conversation and even the way they team up to set the Christmas dinner table and grill the Christmas lamb denote attention and effort. My sister and I often comment on how we will not measure up to our parents' precision, even as we say it acknowledging a generous inheritance of endurance and striving.
When Mom or Dad gets to heaven there will be a bubble bath waiting for them, a massage and a sincere smile from their Saviour as he pats them on the back and says softly, "Well done."
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