Dear Don, Mom and Dad, Grandmas and Grandpas

 Dear Don, Mom and Dad, Grandmas and Grandpas,

I remember a time when we all wrote once a week, letters about everyday experiences, what was the latest news of our lives.

I still think of  those letters,  telling of school activities, dates, proms…

Don, we wrote so much the summer before we were engaged and married. You were working out of McCall, Idaho, in purposed wilderness areas… I was a nanny in Seattle…thick, voluminous letters…

This letter is a bit hard today, as well as joyous wrapped into one…

Am missing you, wishing you were here for this new occasion…

A bit nostalgic…I see pictures of you, Don, teary eyed at each one of our  children’s weddings, walking your daughters down the aisles at the places they chose…or watching your sons as they took their new wives’ hands….

Holding your firstborn grandchild, and then playing with each child as they came…wrestling on the floor or bouncing them on your foot…encouragement…

Mom and Dad, your hugs to each grandchild and grandchildren…pats on the back, teasing, laughing , telling stories, walks in the woods…sharing life….encouragement….

I won’t dismiss the harder times, they were there as well…character building…life and death times…losing family, grandparents, through sickness and health…till death parted us…on this earthly journey…

But, each child, each grandchild and great grandchild has inherited some of your traits whether biological or not…artistic, storytelling, laughter, musical, diligence, caring, giving, analytical, perseverance, resourcefulness, planning , thoughtfulness…to name few…

I know you are not here physically, but a part of you is here in us all…

Thank YOU for your blessings, bringing us together as You chose…families…

 Know therefore that the  your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments …Deut.7.9

 Remember the days of old;consider the generations long past.Ask your father and he will tell you,your elders, and they will explain to you.Deut.32.7

 

Don’s favorite verse… “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened…Luke.11.9-10