50 Years

I knew when we took on the challenge, of organizing a weekend to honor my parents for their 50 years of marriage that the payoff would be well worth it. But I never really spent much time thinking about how much it could mean. Because you know, arranging for temperatures under 100 degrees in August in Kansas City, is really pretty time consuming. But my wise uncle put it all in perspective for me, in a single sentence. “You've given them, what might be, the greatest memory of their lives.”

A great weekend was the original goal, but now I would have to consider anything short of their greatest memory ever to be a failure. And with as much confidence as I can muster, mission complete. But giving them a great weekend, or the greatest weekend, wouldn't come close to evening things out.

I’m pretty hard on myself in most areas of my life, but I know this much: I’m a damn good husband with a fantastic marriage. Both facts being a result of the parents I have and the examples they set for me. In 50 years, no matter what life threw at them, they faced it all as a team.  What they say is true, “imitation is the highest form of flattery,” and I can’t think of any better way to compliment my parents, than to imitate them. Minus dad’s walk.