"For once in my life..."

I owe you all a lot of posts about a lot of things. But I really haven't been in the best frame of mind lately, so those things will have to sit on the back burner for a while. One thing that will not sit on the back burner, though, is this opportunity to ring in the anniversary of my beautiful and wonderful parents.

My parents are some of the strongest people I know. They are both firstborns, so they have grown up looking after their families. Although most of their children and certainly all of their siblings are grown up, they still devote their lives to looking after us. And it's a hell of a job. You all know about the special needs of my siblings - taking care of them and all of the bureaucracy (academic, medical, etc.) that goes along with that is physically and emotionally draining. And you would think that would be more than enough, but even when all that is sorted out, they still continue to give selflessly to others. Sometimes giving is not easy financially or physically or emotionally, but they continue to do it regardless.

I'll give you an example. Once I was telling my parents about a classmate who was suffering from a rare disease. I did not even know the girl that well. My mother, being a nurse, knew that this was a disease that required bone marrow transplants, and said without thinking that she would be willing to donate bone marrow. My father said the same. I didn't even ask - that wasn't even why I told them the story. They just knew that someone needed help, and that they could help, and they wanted to help.

This is a trait that I've tried to adopt from them throughout my life. Having grown up in a household where giving and sharing with others is a way of life, I give to others because it is something I genuinely like to do. I don't give or do things to show off, or to impress people, or to expect something in return. It's just something that makes me happy.

Maybe this is just what you get when two firstborns marry. Maybe we've bitten off more than we can chew at sometimes. But no matter how stressed out we get, if you asked any of us, we wouldn't have things any other way.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! I love you!

xxx