Tribute to Mom and Dad

Two weeks ago my parents celebrated their 40th anniversary.

40 years.

WOW.

The only thing scary about that number is that it means it is lurking as a birthday for me in the not-too-distant future.  

It is also lurking as a birthday for my husband in just a matter of days, but he doesn't want anyone to know.

....Oops.  Oh well.

I went in search of some pictures for this 'Happy Anniversary' blog post. I searched, and I searched...through years of photos.  We live three miles from these people.  We camp with them every summer.  We go out to eat with them at least once or twice a month.  We celebrate every major holiday together, and a few of the minor ones.  We watch our favorite teams on their TV when we can't get the games on our channels. We travel to Illinois together at least once a year.

And this is all I could come up with.

Sorry, mom and dad.  We really need to work on actually taking some pictures together.

My parents are amazing.

As their anniversary was approaching, I was trying to figure out what in the world to do to celebrate.  Most people would have some type of open house with a big gathering of friends.  My dad is not most people.  He's not so much into those party types of things.  Since the goal of an anniversary celebration is not to put the people you love through misery, I knew we wouldn't be planning a big event.

Which put me back to the drawing board with no ideas.

That is when my mom called.

She said, "Dad and I have been talking about our anniversary." {I immediately felt like a terrible daughter.  Shouldn't I be the one calling them about this?}

She said, "We are thinking of going to Great Wolf Lodge." {Excuse me? I knew I must have misunderstood her.}

She continued, "We were looking for a place where we could all spend the weekend together.  We are going to fly your brother in from Oregon." {I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.}

This is where I finally found my voice.

I said something like..."Let me get this straight.  It is YOUR 40th wedding anniversary, but you are going to take us to Great Wolf Lodge? You are going to fly my brother in? You are going to pay for us all to have a weekend together? At a water park?"

Her answer, "Yes. Do you have a better idea of a place to go?"

No!!!!

I wasn't sure whether to feel guilty or really excited.  I opted for both.

Which left us with only one thing left to do -- find the perfect anniversary gift.

An incredibly difficult task for a couple who has most of what they need, who do not have expensive hobbies, and who do not have a ton of common interests.  After searching all over the big city for the "perfect" gift, we opted for a classic fallback.  However, we engraved some catchy phrase about family, with full intentions of actually filling it with a family picture.  (That is not them, by the way.) This seems appropriate, in light of the current lack of pictures issue.  We will be taking a family photo at Great Wolf Lodge....before going out to dinner...not in our swimsuits.

We went all crazy on the day of the anniversary, and had them over for supper and to watch the KU game.  In an ironic turn of events, their cable provider dropped the channel the game was being played on, yet it is one of the eight channels we actually receive. Go figure.

We ate some food, watched the game, and played some cards.

We are party animals.

The next day we celebrated with my dad's side of the family.  It was technically the family "Christmas dinner", but it was a chance for me to honor mom and dad one more time.

You see, my dad has a little secret that only his family knows about.  He is a poet.  Seriously.

Every time his brothers or sisters had a milestone birthday or anniversary, he would write a funny poem about them and read it at the family get-together. The whole group always looked forward to what crazy memories might be mentioned.  His sisters have kept files of all the poems written over the years.

The day before the gathering, it hit me that there would be no poem this year, because, of course, he would never write one for himself. And not only was it my parent's 40th wedding anniversary, but my dad turned 70 three days after their anniversary. 

This was a BIG DEAL.

So...I grabbed a sheet of scratch paper and a pencil, and was determined to become a poet while mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms (it didn't work to just sit down and stare at a blank piece of paper).  I used tons of poetic license, and most likely broke every rhyming and meter rule known to mankind. 

However, by the time the house was clean, I had a poem...or something that moderately resembled one.

A Tribute to Mom and Dad

Over 40 some long years ago

Two people were destined to meet

A sweet lady named JoAnn Gehring

Had a hand in this little feat. 

She did a little match-making

And waited to see if there’d be more.

And sure enough, these two clicked

And married in January of ’74.

They were immediately a family of three,

With a cute little boy in the mix.

But the family wasn’t yet quite complete,

And a baby girl was to become the fix.

Dad built lawnmowers and clerked some sales

And mom nursed those who were sick.

While Rodney and Rhonda fought day and night,

And never cleaned up, not a lick.

Their favorite weekend attraction

Was taking us all out to camp

The parents would fish and would have no idea

The kids were riding bikes down the boat ramp!

They’re nothing alike, my mom and my dad.

They are about as opposite as can be.

Dad hates to travel; mom would go every month,

And will the roads be bad? They’ll never agree.

Mom loves to shop; dad, well, he doesn’t.

And their outlooks are different, too.

Mom is an optimist; dad….prefers realist,

But they do agree about their love of KU!

They taught us many important lessons,

Managing money and how to be on time,

Treat others with respect & always do your best,

And how to zero-turn the lawnmower on a dime.

 As we got older we finally realized

Even when disciplining, their love did abound.

We wouldn’t trade them for anything as parents,

And they really are the best grandparents around.

So congrats mom and dad on 40 long years,

And thank you for all that you’ve done.

You are a blessing and we love you,

And wish you many more years of fun!

Happy Anniversary (and birthday to both in January!) to my mom and dad.  Now that I have publicly embarrassed them, my job here is done!