Let’s dance! Today marks the 86th anniversary of the birth of my mommy. Muriel Evelyn Grace Watson Ralph. (While here eyes are not as sharp as they once were, I know she’ll be reading this on her iPad at the kitchen table! Coolest mom ever) Happy Birthday mom. I love you. And love was never in short supply in our home. It remains to this day your legacy - the hallmark of a lady who gave herself fully to the noble calling of ‘wife & mother.’ Perhaps gratitude is in fact the perfect way to wish you well. Thank you for being the incarnation of grace. When I am most underserving of your tenderness, you offer it freely. Thank you for understanding the hubris of my youth. When I acted foolishly, you chose ‘nurture over rupture.’ And you still do. Thank you for telling, and showing me that all people are worthy of second chances. Me, and others. Thank you for practicing consistency. It’s true what they say, ‘Practice does make permanent.’ Thank you for teaching me how to love a woman, even as a young boy on that ugly chesterfield where you taught me how to say “I love you” and “I’m sorry.” And thank you for having the courage to tell me the ‘truth’ about those subjects that scared the daylights out of me. Thank you for explaining that discipline hurt you more than it hurt me! (I get it now.) Thank you for receiving all of my gifts as if they were the grandest any mom had ever received. Thanks for eating the peanut brittle, and for using the not-so-slightly-used dessert glasses and spoons I purchased for you at the Fun Fair. Thank you for listening. And thank you for speaking up when I need to hear what I needed to hear. Thank you for never badmouthing one single, solitary person. Thank you for sending me to the corner store. There was nothing quite like the day I discovered exactly what I had been purchasing all those years! Thank you, along with dad, for taking us to church. Memories too beautiful to reduce to words. Tony Campolo, E.V. Hill. and the rest. Thank you for eating that very first spaghetti I made for you and dad during Grade Eight HomeEc class. You remember, the one where I forgot to drain the fat off of the meat sauce! Thank you for telling me since as early as I can remember that friends often come and go, but ‘family sticks together.’ Thank you for the Nutty Buddies & the Creamcicles. Thank you for welcoming Marian into your heart, long before she became my wife. And for loving Zachary, Kyle & Brittany without reservation. Thank you for cultivating a life of unbridled generosity. Thank you for believing me when the ‘Principal’ (I won’t mention his name) falsely accused me. And especially for the hot dog, french fries and Pepsi we enjoyed afterward. Thank you for unlocking the front door and making all of my friends welcome in our home. Thank you for being a tremendous example of a ‘life invested’ rather than a life ‘simply spent.’ Thank you for guarding your dignity and beauty as you entered the golden years. You look more beautiful today than you did yesterday. I owe a great debt to you, one that would be impossible to repay. (Oh yes, and thanks for letting me be the baby of the family. Love it.) Paul Edward.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 22:42:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015