Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Yesterday was my parents 45th Anniversary. Oops, I am late. :)
That's a long time. It's almost 50 years! Usually the image that comes to mind of couples celebrating long years together is one of a round, beaming woman with a fluffy, cotton ball of white hair and her hunched over husband standing next to her, both with corsages and boutineers that seem to over power their frailty. Proudly I boast that my parents look like they could be on the cover of an aerobics dvd. ;)
But, more importantly, their marriage is one to celebrate. It's not that they have just been married *that long*, it is that even though they have been married *that long* they still enjoy each other and being married to each other. My mom refers to my father as her "best friend". And my dad treats her like a queen and is so protective of her. They have their own interests and pursuits, but, by and large, they do everything together.

Of course, that marriage produced 4 children. And parenting children is a large part of any marriage if you are so blessed. One thing I have thought about recently is how thankful I am that my parents *tried*. I hope that doesn't sound demeaning. It is the effort they made that means the most to me nowdays. Probably because I know how easy is is to go off and do what you want to do, or say you are tired ( you are!) or veg out in front of the tv instead of *trying*.

I know now that I am older that it is the *little* things, done consistently, that are often the greatest sacrifices. My dad would play baseball out in the yard with us after working all day, take us fishing, help us with our homework ( whether we wanted it or not :) read us bedtime stories. My mom was up with us every morning, getting us off to school. She laid our vitamins next to our cereal bowls. She said "I love you" every single night before we went to bed. She had dinner ready everyday at 5:00. She was very careful we didn't eat too many sweets and about what we watched on tv and listened to. ( yeah, that was pretty annoying at the time, dang, I REALLY wanted that "Frampton Comes Alive" album :) Collectively, they were both hardworkers and required that we were too ( no easy task, now I know, and wish I hadn't given them so much guff! ;) I almost can't remember a vacation we took where we didn't go to a museum or some historical point of interest. They constantly had our best interests at heart. I see that now. I appreciate that now. There is a lot of bad press these days about the suburban, middle class life....but my parents worked hard to see that we had a stable childhood. Middle class and suburban, nonetheless. It was good.

So, I send them the very happiest of anniversary wishes. And I thank God for who they are and what they are, and that He grants them many, many more years of marital bliss.