Skip to main content

Five Minute Friday: Give


Five Minute Friday is a writing event that has hundreds of writers spending five minutes writing on the same topic and then sharing them at http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/. This week's word is Give.

Fifty-six years ago today, my parents were married. It was a very cold November day, snow was still on the ground from earlier in the week. They stood in front of family and friends and took vows that have stood the test of time.

I watch them and truly believe that they are in as much love today as they were in 1958 when they decided to bind their lives together. That life has brought them two daughters, four major surgeries, a layoff, and the death of four parents. Through all of that, they still hold hands as they walk from the car to the restaurant. And through all of that, they have never stopped giving.

They give of themselves to each other and to their church. They give of themselves to their two girls. In the times before their deaths, both have given of themselves to lovingly care for their mothers. They give their integrity, they give their knowledge, and most of all, they give their love.

This Thanksgiving weekend, I put those two people at the top of my list of what I am thankful for. It is through them that I have learned to give. And I hope to some day find someone special that I can give a love that will endure 56 years. I am so thankful for the life they have given me and the legacy I hope to live up to.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Gayl WrightNovember 28, 2014 at 11:11 PM

    Hello from your neighbor at FMF. I loved reading this lovely tribute to your parents. Celebrating 56 yrs of marriage is definitely a milestone. They sound like wonderful people!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 29, 2014 at 6:37 AM

    What a wonderful tribute to your parents. [Not a dry eye in this house!]....

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Five Minute Friday: Roots

Lisa-Jo Baker (lisajobaker.com) hosts a weekly event on her blog called "Five Minute Friday". The rules are 1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community.. So here's my first try at this. Today's topic was Roots. Roots – I think about my grandparents who lived on a farm until my grandfather’s diabetes worsened and they moved to a town with a hospital nearby. My father still says he wished he could have kept that farm. I think of my grandmother who was a widow for 20 years. Every year she would stand over my PaPa’s grave, wishing she was with him. I think of my parents, a product of those grandparents, how hard my father worked to put 2 girls through
10 comments
Read more

Five Minute Friday: Time

Five Minute Friday is a writing event that has writers spending five minutes writing on the same topic and then sharing them at http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/ . This week's word is Time. Sometimes time feels like this, like we are in it. Standing inside it, watching life pass by. It is so easy to get stuck in a time - in our pain, in our hurt. We hear the ache tick away in our head like a giant clock. Time, instead, is a gift. More time with family, more time to accomplish goals, more time to see the world. When you are hurting, it seems like time takes forever. One day turns into another day, turns into another day. When we hate a job, the five days of time that make up a work week seem to go on forever. But those five days are also a gift. Because these days, a job is not a guarantee. I want to see time as gift, not as a chore. I want to be on the other side of it, wishing there was more of it. Making the most of every hour, minute, and second instead of
6 comments
Read more

Five Minute Friday: Mercy

Mercy, this is a tough one for me. I think that's why I waited until Saturday to do Five Minute Friday. I didn't want to face the topic of mercy. I am thankful everyday for God's tender mercies. The first definition of mercy that came up when I googled the word was compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.  This definitiion is my life in a nutshell. How many times has God extended this to me when I deserved to be turned into a pillar of salt like Lot's wife. How many times have I ignored his laws and his proddings and done exactly what I wanted to do. Every time he forgives me and prospers me. Every. time. I know there are people I should show mercy to. People who have broken my heart into more pieces than I can count. I think that I am showing mercy by keeping my disappointment in silence. In a day and age with social media, I could have told everyone that follows them how they have hurt me but I ha
7 comments
Read more