These are my parents… my mom and dad … the two most influential people in my life. My role models, my teachers, the parents I was beyond blessed to be born to…who loved me, fed me, clothed me, supported me, accepted me and nurtured me …who taught me morals and values and how to be a good person, a good parent, a good partner and a good friend….my entire life. The two people my children were and are blessed to call Grandma and Grandpa…and who Emma and Ethan are now lucky enough to know and love as their great grandparents.
Who is my Mom to me? She has always been the kindest, most loving and accepting person I have ever known. She believes in God…she believes in family…and she is ‘old school ‘ traditional. By that I mean she believes with her whole heart that a woman’s place is by her husband’s side … caring for her family, taking care of her children, loving her spouse and supporting him. It’s definitely ‘old school ‘ and you may or may not agree with the idea… I always have… ish…sometimes….kinda…lol …but I understand that it worked for them …and I respect and appreciate that. And as an adult I realize how lucky I was to be raised in that environment. I was blessed to spend my entire life with two people who committed their lives to each other when they were barely more than highschool sweethearts and still love each other unconditionally today.
Who is my Dad to me? The smartest man I ever knew…the first man I ever loved…my hero…my Daddy. I never asked him a question growing up and as an adult that he didn’t have an answer to. Older and slightly more jaded with life I wonder now sometimes if he made some of those answers up …but if he did, they were convincing given the circumstance …and I think that’s ok.
The last few years have been heartbreaking and painful as I come to grips with what happens as our parents age…for Dad it’s memory loss…and seeing the changes has brought me many nights where I cry myself to sleep … just waiting and hoping for a glimpse of the man I know and love so much …watching that memory slip away into a sea of confusion and uncertainty…and sadness. This man, who was always simply ‘Daddy’ to me, devoted his entire life to his family…his country…and his God. And now he struggles with the simplest of memories, daily activities, who we are, where he is, what is going to happen next. The tiniest glimpses I get of who he ‘was’ are the moments he spends with his great grandchildren…because in those moments he is in the smallest ways the man he always has been to me.
For Mom, it has been an unexpected battle with cancer. A battle she has faced with grace, dignity and faith….all while taking on roles and responsibilities that have been held my entire life (and more) by my father. The entire time worried more about everyone else in her life and how all of it affected them more than what it did to her personally. She does not want to be a burden to anyone…but what she does not realize is that she has always been everything to all of us … and for us to now be there for her is something we are grateful to be able to do and none of us would ever consider doing anything less ❤️
After not seeing them for two very long years, we’ve had almost a month to spend with them. I am honest enough to admit that there was a time in my life that a month would have seemed like a very long time – but our moments together have gone by in the blink of an eye and I am incredibly sad to realize that in just a very short time they will say goodbye, give us one last hug, and head back to California, not knowing if this will be the last time they will be able to travel to the east coast. I truly hope and pray that it is not.
Life can sometimes seem so very long …but reality is the time we all have with the people we love is limited. Be present, take pictures…lots of them… spend time, make memories, and cherish the moments you have with those who are important to you. Love and laugh and enjoy every second …because I think one day those memories will be the single most important thing you have to hold on to.
I love you Mom and Dad…and I am so grateful for everything this time together has been and will continue to be. I am grateful for the stories, the memories, the sharing and the love…for the laughs we’ve had and even for the tears we’ve shared. We already cannot wait until your next trip to your ‘East Coast home’ here with us. Come back soon … we all love you both so very very much ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
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