the golden years

I read a quote recently about these days being the golden years, and how we wish we had known these days were the golden years so we would enjoy them more, instead of them just sliding right by and us not knowing that it would never be the same again.

Oh, the fun we have had together. 

In the summer months, we went somewhere fun every single week.  Sometimes it would be the zoo, or the children's museum, the Pink Palace, a movie, a park, a trip to a waterpark downtown.  It didn't matter what we did, we all had a blast.  Quality time is our love language, needless to say. 

This was a day at the zoo, and what I remember most from this day was the butterfly exhibit.  The boys loved that exhibit and feeding the butterflies.  We spent what felt like hours inside that hot terrarium area. 

I mentioned before that Dad probably started coming over to help me, and help me he did.  When the boys were all in elementary school together, every single May, he would help me out by attending Field Day with me.  If I hadn't had him to help me, I would have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off, because they were never together.  One kid would be at one end, and the other at the opposite end.  We perfected this, though, and by our last year of doing that together, he had a lawn chair to sit in and an umbrella as shade.

We didn't have a lot of money, though, and had it not been for him doing these fun things with us, the boys would have missed out.  He always paid for our little excursions to the movies, or the zoo, or the children's museum.  I'm so thankful to him for that.  I know the boys are, too, because most of their childhood is wrapped in memories with Dad in them.

Christmas traditions

Every year for as long as I can remember, we've had "Thanksgiving" with Dad and Sandy on Friday after Thanksgiving.  We would meet out at their house, eat early, ooh and ahh over all the lights we hung, and then we'd leave for the zoo and Zoo Lights. 

In 2018, though, we got rained out.

I'm so glad that this year, we went, and we wouldn't let Dad pay for it.  Todd bought our tickets online this year, and this is Trish, Dad and me at one of the trees at the entrance.  We weren't able to ride the tram much, because of all the crowds, but Dad did great.  We went nice and slow, and Trish and I loved hanging back with him and talking and laughing.  Sandy didn't join us this night, and she didn't in 2017 either, so it was just us and my hubby and boys.  I'm sad she didn't go, but I surely understand needing some recouperating time from cooking a huge meal.

This was a fun, fun night.  I love traditions. 

friendship

I'll never forget the day that Dad told me his best friend had died.  We were in Chick Fil A with all the boys having lunch, and when he told me, I burst into tears.  In the middle of the restaurant, and not in a quiet way.

It's interesting, how things hit you like that.

I know my reaction was strong, because my dad is not getting any younger. 

And also, because all of his friends are slowly dying.

Not this one, though, this handsome fella beside Dad in these pictures.

This is Larry Croft, my childhood best friend's dad.  Larry's wife Barbara died about a year ago, and Stacy took these pictures of him and texted them all to me.  He is a wonderful man, and his laughter is infectious.  He told Dad once that he might as well go ahead and add Stace to his life insurance policy.  And he blamed Dad for her new and expensive taste in food.  (Can you say crab legs, anyone?)

I love these guys.  I love their friendship. 

About Dad's best friend, though.  Billy died a few years ago now, and Dad gave the eulogy at his funeral.  He actually shared a copy of it with me, and I have it put up in a cabinet.  (I always keep everything he writes, and yes, he writes.  I suppose that gene came from him.)  I prayed for him during those days, because I cannot imagine how difficult that would have been.  Billy and he were in the Korean war together and they were stationed in Japan together for a few weeks.  (Dad was in the Navy, and he served in that war as a hospital corpsman.)

I can't even count how many stories I've heard of their younger days. 

What a gift to us, our friendships are.  May we never take them for granted.

Christmas Lights!

Dad loves Christmas lights.  They've always been his pride and joy every year, but once he started getting older, Trish and all my boys and me started doing this for him.  He used to help some, but for the last few years, we've only let him supervise and bring us things via his John Deere riding mower.

This year, our lights crew was this many strong.

Two of my boys were out of town, one was sick, and the other one got a free pass.  It took longer, but we outdid ourselves and the lights looked better than ever.  I love doing this for him and with him and Trish, and it's an honor to be able to serve the Lord by serving Dad. 

His prayer every year is that they wouldn't just be something pretty to look at, but that the lights would be seen as a reflection of the light that Jesus is to a lost and dying world.  Here is the verse he bases that on:

Jesus spoke to them again: "I am the light of the world.  Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life."  (John 8:12)

Lord, let that always be so...not just in Christmas lights, but in every part of our lives.

89?!

Since we're all on lockdown thanks to COVID19, I figured now is a good time to update this blog.  I kept forgetting I had it, and just let all that time go by. 

This was Dad and me at the beginning of this past December.  I had a choir concert at church, and he and my stepmom came.  I remember thinking on that night, that no matter how old I get, he loves to support me in all my endeavors.  He does this by coming to concerts I sing in at church, and in reading what I write.  I'm so grateful for his influence.

It's crazy to think this handsome fella will be eighty-nine years young on the 29th of this month.  He still looks so great!  I have really good genes in my family, both in him and in my mom.  Neither one of them look their age.

I had grand plans to celebrate his birthday by having them over for dinner, but I suppose we will postpone that.  Trish and I are cooking up an idea, though...

We're still hanging out on Fridays, though not during all of this crazy time.  I am looking forward to getting back to it, I feel like it's been weeks since I've seen him.  We've been talking on the phone every couple of days, though, and texting all the time.

Such is life, for now.  I am glad he texts and that he and Sandy are staying well and keeping to themselves.  (You should SEE his emoji usage.)

💕

zoo days

My dad and I have always spent time together, but when these guys were all younger, we went to the zoo almost every week.  Dad had a grandparent's pass, and it got all the boys, him, plus one other in every time we went.  We would laugh every time we went there, that we never did the same thing twice in a row.  One time we went there and all the boys wanted to do was eat and play on the playground.  One time we went and stayed in the Northwest Passage the whole day. 

I am so glad we had these times together.  It's different now, we're all older, and once the boys started driving, they become more social and didn't want to go there anymore.  This picture above is the last time we went, just the six of us on a regular Friday.  We were standing there, and I had been standing beside Drew, and he leaned over to me and whispered, "Mom, this is nowhere near as exciting as it used to be."  After I took a few seconds to swallow the giant lump that instantly appeared in my throat, I told him it was, they had just grown up.

If nothing else, that day taught me to treasure those memories.  I wouldn't trade one single memory for all the money in the world.