Monday, October 27, 2008
Family
Yesterday we celebrated my dad's 89th birthday and mom and dad's 61st wedding anniversary. (The actually date is Halloween...that's right my dad was born on Halloween and they got married on Halloween. His less than endearing joke is "I married a witch on Halloween and she's been Gobblin up my money ever since." He's 89, cut him some slack.) It was a pretty cool day.
This morning I wrote an email to my family. Here are those thoughts.
Hey family,
Just wanted to say how much I (we) enjoyed being with you all yesterday. Like I told Dianne in an email this morning, we may have a quirky family, but it's a darned good one. There was something that felt durable yesterday--I could sense the history as mom and dad told (at length) the story of their first meeting, and then seeing little Sam running around with his odd dancing/prancing run oblivious to what was going on--just being, in the safety of our family.
I love that our family is a safe place to be. (Well, it was safe for most everyone but Ryan. Dude, when the first political ball gets lobbed into the air, you need to run for cover. Three or four generations from now, with the dilution of the gene pool, your great grandchildren might be able to sit around a table and talk politics without fear of bodily harm, but that time hasn't come yet.)
Actually, I saw something that really warmed my heart. After one of the particularly forceful barrages, Ryan got up to dab his bloodied nose and was standing by the kitchen door. I then saw DeVon get up and go over there and put his arm around Ryan. That spoke loudly...a father and son who strongly disagree on 'red and blue,' and yet it doesn't affect their relationship, it doesn't hold any power to diminish their love for each other. That was a cool picture of why I think our family is durable--disagreements are distantly peripheral to our love and commitment to one another.)
The commitment of mom and dad to each other for 61 years of marriage! The commitment of dad, who at 89 years old still prays for each of us by name every day. That's a bull horn that reminds me to live a life of humble love.
So, I just wanted to say that I'm proud to be blood with you all. Proud to call you my family.
Terry
This morning I wrote an email to my family. Here are those thoughts.
Hey family,
Just wanted to say how much I (we) enjoyed being with you all yesterday. Like I told Dianne in an email this morning, we may have a quirky family, but it's a darned good one. There was something that felt durable yesterday--I could sense the history as mom and dad told (at length) the story of their first meeting, and then seeing little Sam running around with his odd dancing/prancing run oblivious to what was going on--just being, in the safety of our family.
I love that our family is a safe place to be. (Well, it was safe for most everyone but Ryan. Dude, when the first political ball gets lobbed into the air, you need to run for cover. Three or four generations from now, with the dilution of the gene pool, your great grandchildren might be able to sit around a table and talk politics without fear of bodily harm, but that time hasn't come yet.)
Actually, I saw something that really warmed my heart. After one of the particularly forceful barrages, Ryan got up to dab his bloodied nose and was standing by the kitchen door. I then saw DeVon get up and go over there and put his arm around Ryan. That spoke loudly...a father and son who strongly disagree on 'red and blue,' and yet it doesn't affect their relationship, it doesn't hold any power to diminish their love for each other. That was a cool picture of why I think our family is durable--disagreements are distantly peripheral to our love and commitment to one another.)
The commitment of mom and dad to each other for 61 years of marriage! The commitment of dad, who at 89 years old still prays for each of us by name every day. That's a bull horn that reminds me to live a life of humble love.
So, I just wanted to say that I'm proud to be blood with you all. Proud to call you my family.
Terry
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