42

Today is my parents’ 42nd anniversary.  I sent them both a text this morning saying, “Happy Anniversary!!  42 years is a loooooong time.”  My mom wrote me back and said, “Not for us.”  Not gonna lie, I started to tear up.  Then my dad responded by texting both of us with a message meant for my mother, “42 years is a long time to love somebody.  But you made it easy.”  I believe a tear actually escaped to make its way down my face.

Most of the people I have continual contact with do not have the kind of parents that are still so in love with each other.  Every time at this time of year I find myself dwelling on how grateful I am for the parents I have.  When I was in kindergarten, I met Victoria.  I had asked her to spend the night one weekend and she said that she couldn't because she had to go to her dad’s.  I was so confused.  Victoria was the first person I had heard about with parents that were divorced.  I went home and asked my mother what divorce meant.  My mom explained it to me as only she could.  My mom was awesome about being truthful and accurate in her descriptions without overwhelming my young mold-able mind. (the way she taught me about what sex was is another brilliant example.  But that’s a blog for another day)  Now that I knew what divorce was, I got a little nervous.  I asked her this, “Will you and daddy get divorced?”  How awesome is it that my mother was so confident in her God-centered relationship with my father to answer this way: “No, Denise, I can promise you that we will never get divorced.”  My parents never made promises that they weren't sure they could keep.  Wow.

My parents never fought in front of my brother and me until we were old enough to not get scared by it.  I knew they disagreed about things but they always had their “discussions” not in front of us.  This presented a united front.  We knew they disagreed but we always knew that they were together.  Always.

Last week in my dad’s sermon he used the example of their relationship to make a point.  He was talking about how Christian’s can often mistreat each other, therefore mistreating the bride of Christ.  He said, “If you want to make me mad, all you have to do is mistreat my wife.”  He has used that example multiple times.  Each time, my mom gets a little smile on her face.  It’s the sweetest thing.

I could go on and on but I gotta save some for the 43rd anniversary.