Today though I am going to tell you about two people I am so VERY VERY VERY grateful for.... my parents. My momma and my daddy are two of my favorite people in the entire world. I am so blessed by the parents that I have that I can hardly start to talk about it. My mom and dad have always put family first... and that has not stopped once their kids were grown and grandkids started. I can't even begin to imagine where I would be without my parents. I don't even want to try it actually.
My parents firmly believe that it takes a village to raise a child. They are actively instrumental in the raising of my children. Often when we cannot afford boots or shoes my parents step in. This Friday my parents are taking my youngest for some Grandma and Grandpa alone time.... this will give me the amazing ability to have my oldest child all by herself. It is some of the best time spent on Earth.... time one on one with your child. Last month they took Ash while I took Taryn. We switch off like that and it makes everyone's day. The kids don't stop talking about it until the next time it happens.... and there is something new to report. What an amazing opportunity they offer to me by doing this. I know that Taryn will probably come home with new Shoes.... Ashlynn did last time. And there will be a small gift for Ashlynn because there always is.
My mother is my best girlfriend in the world. She is there for me without fail. She still is as protective of me as she was when I was little. We try to steal off for some Mommy/daughter time together every now and then. It is less frequent than it was before children came.... but more needed now. She and I love to spend hours at the fabric store. It was she that taught me how to knit... and she is teaching me how to sew now. She has a life that is more busy than you can imagine. As a nurse for her day job, she also has taken on the role of minister for our church... and spends hours and hours working without pay for the church. She loves doing it though and is excited to watch as our church family grows.
I am always awed by my mother's generosity. She loves to give to the people that she loves.... whether it is her time, gifts that she has made or purchased, food, you name it she gives. She is always looking for an opportunity to share with those she loves. She taught me what it means to be a mother.... because she ALWAYS thinks of her kids first. She is truly the image of what a mother should be. I love her more than I can even express.... I have always known this. I have always known the love of my mother.... I have never in a million years doubted it. However it was not until I held my infant daughter that it hit me..... HOW MUCH she loves me. This woman would gladly give her life for me... for my children, for my husband. She loves us so completely.
My father is harder to peg. He is more private about his feelings. When you give him a gift his response is nearly always the same " huh.... thanks.... this is really cool." Only a few times have I ever seen a response that was more effusive than that. Once was when we kids got him tickets to see The Moody Blues.... But there are signs there. When I got him an eric clapton box set.... he got up right then and there to put on one of the CDs even though it was Christmas morning and he turned off the Christmas Carols for that. But that is how you have to read my dad.... if you are looking for huge displays of emotion... you are looking for it in the wrong person. It is the little things. when I was 17 I bought a car... it was a true beater with a heater... and one day my dad needed to borrow my car. He drove me to work and dropped me off. When he came to pick me up he had put all new tires on my car. He had noticed that the tires were bald... and he couldn't let it stand. THIS is how he says I love you.
A few weeks ago Daddy lost his brother. Since that day he has been actively looking for the hugs and saying "I love you" It is important for him right now to get those words out... to let it be known to his kids, his wife, his grandkids. We all knew it though. This is a man who had my grandmother make a Santa outfit so that he could be Santa for the kids in his life. He plays Santa at Gramps and Grans every year. He grows his beard and hair out so that he looks like Santa starting in the Fall of every year. He is THRILLED when kids poke their mommy and say " I think that's him" He has the biggest smile when there are kids nearby... and even though he pretends to hate cats they love him. My dad is one of the coolest people I have ever met.
I know every one thinks they have the best parents ever..... but I truly do. I love my mom and dad more than I could express in words. In fact it is moments like this... when I am trying to let you all know how much I love my parents, that words seem like useless tools. Still I am working hard to try to convey that love. I am so very grateful for my parents. I will be for the rest of my life. My parents have taught me the meaning of family... they have helped me to be able to create the family that I so longed for.... and they are helping me to raise my family. I couldn't say thank you enough to them if I said it every day all day. Still I have to try.
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