Something I don’t do often enough is take the time to count my blessings. I know there are some people out there who excel at this, by writing down three things they are thankful for every night, or keeping an ongoing bulletin board that they write on each time they think of something, but I’m just not that person. So, I’m going to try a Thankful Thursday blog series. Each week I’ll post someone or something I’m particularly thankful for and share it with all of you. I encourage you to follow along and list a few things (or one, haha, no pressure) that you are thankful for in the comments section. 

This week, I’m choosing my parents. They just celebrated 50 years of marriage!!!! How awesome is that?!! We all celebrated with a week in the mountains together, all 23 of us, under one roof, and IT. WAS. AWESOME. My parents got married after high school and started the family young as my dad attended University of Illinois to get his degree in accounting. My sister and brother were born while he was going to school. My mom babysat for the neighborhood kids to help out with the bills. They worked hard and moved around quite a bit after college while dad started work as a CPA. They finally settled back in Iroquois County for my dad to start his own business just before I was born. My dad owns his own business, while my mom works as his secretary during “tax season”. Yes, it’s a thing. Not many couples would be able to work together and make it work, but they do, year in and year out. 

When I was three, they purchased a country home that needed a lot of loving. They still live in the same house, 35 years later. It’s the place where most of my childhood, and many adult, memories were made. It’s the place where my dad let me help him plant trees, the very trees we get apples from year after year. It’s the place where my mom played catch with me and took me on walks down to the bridge. It’s the place where I came home to as a teenager and life just didn’t make sense. It’s the place I ran to when I most needed a safe place. Now, it’s the place where my kids go to run around outside barefoot, catching frogs, getting dirty and freak out about bugs. It’s the place my kids make cookies with my mom and eat chocolate with my dad. It’s home. 

Most recently, it’s been a place where my kids have learned firsthand about cancer. My dad was diagnosed in February with lymphoma. The girls have learned about fighting, about caring, about losing hair and ports and chemo. They’ve learned that Grandpa still takes time to love on them, even when he’s tired. They’ve learned that life is precious. They’ve seen my mom care for my dad in a beautiful way. They’ve seen us kids come together and rally behind dad, taking him to appointments, keeping him company (uh, or watching him sleep, sorry Dad) during chemo and trying to support them through tax season 2016. And, praise be to God, they’ve watched him finish treatment and hear the word: REMISSION!

Mom and Dad, thank you for doing the hard work to love each other when it was hard. Thanks for leaving a legacy of love for us, for our children and for future generations. We love you and don’t thank you enough.