50 Reasons

Dear Mom and Dad,
On this, your 50th wedding anniversary, I am giving you 50 reasons why I love you.
- You gave me life.
- You taught me truth.
- You gave me something to believe in.
- You taught my big brother to take care of me.
- You gave me little sisters.
- You are proud of me.
- You tell me you are proud of me.
- You kissed all my hurts. Every single one.
- You read to me every night.
- You bought me books. So many books. An entire library.
- You sang to me.
- Dad: you brushed my hair gently so it wouldn’t pull so much.
- Mom: you re-brushed my hair to get the tangles out.
- You took me on walks and showed me how to look around.
- Pie.
- You encouraged imagination.
- Motorcycle summer evenings.
- School projects and homework.
- You mended my broken heart. Again and again.
- You disciplined me.
- The phone jack you put in my room and the patience you showed when I tied up the phone.
- Manitoulin Island.
- Shooting stars.
- New first day of school outfits every single year.
- Tying my ice skates. Then loosening them because they were too tight. Then tying them again. Then making the left one equal the right.
- Hot chocolate. With marshmallows.
- Rubbing my frozen feet after ice skating.
- Our dog Daisy.
- Piano lessons.
- Listening to me practice the piano. Over and over.
- Letting me pick my own wallpaper. Twice.
- My sense of humour: a blend of both of yours.
- The record player. Then the ghetto blaster.
- The late nights listening when all you wanted to do was sleep.
- You taught me to drive and you let me borrow the car and you never seemed concerned when you probably should have been.
- You love the man I chose.
- My wedding day.
- My piano.
- Helping me move. Twice.
- Family dinners.
- Still loving us all when the bad times overshadowed the good times.
- Card games.
- Not crying in front of me when I told you I was moving to the other side of the country.
- Coming to visit me on the other side of the country.
- My work ethic.
- My honesty, my stubbornness, my humility, my patience, my fire.
- You are always happy to hear from me. Always.
- You love me.
- You love this family.
- You love each other and always have. You still do 50 years after you said “I do.”
Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad.