50 Reasons

Dear Mom and Dad,

On this, your 50^th wedding anniversary, I am giving you 50 reasons why I love you.

1. You gave me life.
2. You taught me truth.
3. You gave me something to believe in.
4. You taught my big brother to take care of me.
5. You gave me little sisters.
6. You are proud of me.
7. You tell me you are proud of me.
8. You kissed all my hurts. Every single one.
9. You read to me every night.
10. You bought me books. So many books. An entire library.
11. You sang to me.
12. Dad: you brushed my hair gently so it wouldn’t pull so much.
13. Mom: you re-brushed my hair to get the tangles out.
14. You took me on walks and showed me how to look around.
15. Pie.
16. You encouraged imagination.
17. Motorcycle summer evenings.
18. School projects and homework.
19. You mended my broken heart. Again and again.
20. You disciplined me.
21. The phone jack you put in my room and the patience you showed when I tied up the phone.
22. Manitoulin Island.
23. Shooting stars.
24. New first day of school outfits every single year.
25. Tying my ice skates. Then loosening them because they were too tight. Then tying them again. Then making the left one equal the right.
26. Hot chocolate. With marshmallows.
27. Rubbing my frozen feet after ice skating.
28. Our dog Daisy.
29. Piano lessons.
30. Listening to me practice the piano. Over and over.
31. Letting me pick my own wallpaper. Twice.
32. My sense of humour: a blend of both of yours.
33. The record player. Then the ghetto blaster.
34. The late nights listening when all you wanted to do was sleep.
35. You taught me to drive and you let me borrow the car and you never seemed concerned when you probably should have been.
36. You love the man I chose.
37. My wedding day.
38. My piano.
39. Helping me move. Twice.
40. Family dinners.
41. Still loving us all when the bad times overshadowed the good times.
42. Card games.
43. Not crying in front of me when I told you I was moving to the other side of the country.
44. Coming to visit me on the other side of the country.
45. My work ethic.
46. My honesty, my stubbornness, my humility, my patience, my fire.
47. You are always happy to hear from me. Always.
48. You love me.
49. You love this family.
50. You love each other and always have. You still do 50 years after you said “I do.”

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad.