Thirty Years of Love

LOVE. It's something that everyone longs for, hopes for, dreams of and constantly has on their mind. We talk about it, we sing about it, create reality TV shows around it and think up ridiculous fantasy fairy tales in our mind about this feeling. Today, my parents celebrate thirty years of LOVE together. Although I have only been around for 22 of these years, I base my own definition of love around the examples they have shown me throughout those years. First, I feel so thankful and blessed that I have parents who can stay together in a world that makes it easy to fall apart. I can only imagine how much work that a marriage is, and I respect and greatly admire the love that continues to grow between my Mom and my Dad. It's more common to end a marriage than to fulfill the vows that you had originally made to one another because it's work and it's constantly threatened by temptation, money, and an easier way out.

My parents have shown me through their actions that love is the way someone makes you feel. It's the way someone can have the ability to change the way you view your own heart. I see their love in the little things. The way my mom bites her tongue when she knows that he's wrong. The way she lets him be angry and overreact even when he's being ridiculous. She lets him be. Although she nags him about things around the house, finances, or health, she just lets him be who he is completely. She adores his soul. If you know my Dad, you know he is quite the guy. It took me a long time to realize that he really is hilarious rather than completely embarrassing. My mom still laughs at his every joke, and she's (almost) always the one who's laughing the hardest. After these thirty years, she still thinks he's just as hilarious as the day that they met. My dad sees my mom as his sounding board, the one that is always constant and faithful. When he looks at her I can sense how much he loves her by a simple gesture or smile and his constant awareness of her wellbeing. He appreciates her kindness and her patience. He adores her for everything wonderful that she is.

I'm thankful that my parents have valued the sanctity of their marriage and created such a safe environment for my brothers and I to discover our own truths about love. They have shown us how to trust in others by trusting each other. They have shown us how to respect others by respecting each other. And they have shown us how to love others by loving each other. I'm obviously not an expert on the subject (in fact, given my track record I would say I have a lot of learning to do) but there is one verse that completely captures the foundations of love. This verse is heard so often, yet not comprehended enough.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 says: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

So, to my parents...Here is to thirty years of marriage, three children, and a lot of hurdles along the way. Here's to praying to God that Dad doesn't have a second family in the Domincan Republic and that everything I just said is a complete load of BS, here is to love between the two of you, the love between our family, and of course, here's to thirty more....

Katiegirl