My Aunt and Uncle's, too.
Not just, they're still living....
But their marriages are still thriving, growing,
full of life and love and spark.
We decided to party it up...surprise style.
We, my cousins and siblings and I, had seen it done
long ago. Our grandparents received their own surprise
35th anniversary party when we were young.
I can only say that as we schemed, plotted over e-mail,
worked, created, and decided on endless details, the
end result was better than we'd ever imagined.
I'm so thankful we took the time to do it.
They arrived via limo, still clueless as to what was going on.
We received them at the high school all of us six cousins had
graduated from. Our dads, too.
We ate potluck style.
We celebrated God's goodness to them via slide shows and videos and songs and hilarious skits.
Of course there was some fun dancing.
With all the pain and suffering and struggles daily around, even that day our parents attending a funeral for a long-time friend, it's important to stop and celebrate the good things happening, too.
And as my grandpa commented, who twenty-six years ago received his own party, his wife not living to their fortieth anniversary,
"cherish what you have."
A verse in Proverbs 31 kept coming back to me as well....
"her children arise and call her blessed;"
it is a true blessing to get to arise and bless my parents.
The verse in Proverbs 17 has come alive to me:
"Children's children are a crown to the aged,
and parents are the pride of their children."
