You know you have great parents when your adult friends ask you, "Do you think your parents will adopt me, because they are way better than mine?" (I have always said that I have the best parents in the world.) Last night we celebrated my parents 45th wedding anniversary. By the request of one, I have posted the words that I shared with those at dinner last night.
"It's easy for me to understand love at first a sight, but how do you explain love after two people have been looking at each other for years? My parents have spent the last forty-five years looking at one another. Everyone here has been a witness to their union. I have had a VIP Pass for most of it. Trust me the view wasn't always pretty, but it was always entertaining. Together they have survived a draft notice, a tour of duty, pregnancy, child birth, trips to the ER, surgeries, go cart wrecks, slumber parties, girl scout meetings, two teenagers, traffic tickets, broken hearts, school board meetings, job changes, death, menopause, home re-models and shop buildings, the birth of a grandson, and countless cars, dogs, cats, birthdays, Christmas's, and other holidays. During it all they have stayed in love.
From my front row seat I have noticed a few things:
Daddy will eat anything cooked in an Easy Bake Oven, if his daughter bakes it for him.
Mom will let you sit on the counter and listen to you talk about nothing for a very long time.
Mom knows exactly how long to wait after dad sneezes before she says "bless you.”
When dad goes to his shop to "tinker" she gets the first aid kit ready. Trust me there have been a lot of band-aids over the years and one skin graph.
I’ve never seen dad do a load of laundry or the dishes, but I’ve also never seen mom change the oil in a car.
Daddy knows exactly how to push Mom's buttons, just to see the twinkle in her eye.
He knows that she will interrupt him at least once while he's telling a story, usually twice and yet he keeps on talking.
After living in the same house for 33 years Daddy still has to ask where the bowls are. I’m pretty sure the only thing he knows how to use in the kitchen is the coffee pot and the microwave. He says he can turn on the stove to pre-heat it for breakfast, but I’ve never seen him do it. Don’t even ask him about the dishwasher, washing machine, or the dryer.
She knows she will have to wake him up in his recliner to tell him to go to bed.
They have learned to deal not only with their compatibility, but also with their incompatibility.
They laugh together, they’ve cried together, and more importantly they know when to leave each other alone.
They know that the better sometimes comes after the worse.
They both know how and when to say "I'm sorry."
The sentence "I love you," isn't just something they mumble at bedtime. It is what they do every day; with an act of service, in a look, in a kind or annoying word, or sometimes in a gift. Tonight we are here to celebrate their love, the trust they have in each other, the partnership they have formed, the tolerance they have for one another, and the tenacity it takes to stay to together for 45 years.
There is a line in the movie The Princess Bride that says, “This is true love… you think this happens every day?” Well, I know first hand that it doesn't. Let me close by saying thank you for teaching all us here the true meanings of devotion, love, and commitment. I love you."
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