
(my mom, ala Ben Harper, trying to steal kisses)
I’ll get to the anniversary in a second. But first I was thinking of a real world example of parenthood over the weekend. I woke up at 5:00am this past Friday, boarded a flight to Los Angeles, CA, picked up my rental car (minivan!) and drove to a meeting with my attorney (good meeting). Afterwards I met a friend for lunch, drove 2 hours to see my father-in-law “Big Steve” to pick up a few boxes of photos and memory keepsakes for my wife Laura. Then I started to drive back to CO. I stopped driving around midnight. Woke up at 6:30am on Saturday and drove the rest of the way home. A grand total of 1,101 miles of driving in around 20 hours. Saturday night (actually Sunday morning) Luci woke up teething at 12:30am. Sunday afternoon I drove Luci around for 2 hours for her afternoon nap. It was then that I thought, “This is the definition of parenthood.” After driving for 20 hours in two days I’d still gladly drive around my baby if it will keep her asleep. It’s not because I’m a saint (you all know I’m not), it’s because that is what you do when you are a parent.
My parents have sacrificed for my sister and I since before we were born. They are GREAT parents and amazing role models. I am very blessed to have lived in a household with such an fine example of the marriage ideal.
Thank you mom and dad! Thank you for raising the bar and giving me a goal to strive for.
I hope you have a happy happy anniversary. And, I hope (and pray) you get to celebrate many more.
I love you,
-Ryan
PS You (my readers) can help me celebrate my parents marriage by posting your well-wishes in the comments section. I'll pass them along to my folks later this week.