40 Years!!

My parents have been married for 40 years today! I am so very grateful for their commitment through these years: through the first years learning how to be married, through the early days with two (darling) girls, through some long North Dakota winters, through card-hidden diamonds and expectations, through balancing work and family, through golf games and curling spiels, through bronchitis and migraines, through laughter and dad’s dancing, through changing jobs and retirement, through the death of their parents, through the birth of their grandkids, through grieving their granddaughter and watching their daughter grieve, through Fiats and GMCs, through extended family hurts, through moves and changes, through new knees and aging bodies, through life.

I love that through all this, they have chosen to stay committed, to be selfless at times, and to choose love. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for not giving up on each other, for loving each other through messy life.

If you truly know my parents, you know they are well matched. I love how their strengths and weaknesses mesh. The self-proclaimed bachelor found a classy woman all those years ago. And what a pair they make! Especially when they are both wearing plaid sitting on a plaid couch. Nice.

I love these two. I am beyond thankful for them in my lives. They are not perfect. Nope. But they are awesome and have loved me so well. That is not a given in parenting. They are a gift to me and so many others. I hope for many more years to enjoy them and have my kids get to know them. May the Lord give you more good years together!

Happy 40th!

-Their Youngest