My Dad

Wednesday was my dads 80th birthday. This week has been a bit emotional. At what point does the care of our parents turn from "being taken care of" to "taking care of them"? Somehow it just evolves and life changes. This past week I've been looking through stacks of old pictures to put a slide show together for him for his party today. It's funny when you're younger, you think 80 sounds so old. Then you blink and time has flown by and it doesn't seem so old after all. I'm 52 and inside I still feel like that little girl in all the pictures. Daddy's little girl. This old body might be telling me otherwise, but as I look at the pictures I can remember those moments in time like they were yesterday. I remember my younger years being so full of "my life" at the time that I didn't take the time to really get to know my grandparents and many relatives like I wish I would've. I would love to sit down with them today and just listen to the stories of their youth, but that chance is long gone. I see pictures of my grandpa in the garden with my dad when my dad was only 2 or 3 and can't help but think of my grandson Ethan who is the same age, right along side his daddy. The bible tells us our life is a vapor. One day Ethan's children and his children's children will be celebrating his 80th birthday with him. He will remember that time with his daddy like it was yesterday. He will remember his mama singing to him and holding him, and hopefully his grandparents too. I'm sure my dad feels just like me. My dad came over on his birthday and I asked, "how does it feel to be 80?" He replied, "just like it did when I was 30!" Time flew by. Where did it go? Just yesterday he fell madly in love. Just yesterday he was proposing to my mom. Just yesterday his firstborn son made him a proud daddy and then a little girl stole his heart. Just yesterday his youngest son was born and then he blinked and they graduated. They got married. They went through heartache. They gave him grandchildren. They had to say goodbye to their mama, the love of his life. They watched him go through life threatening surgery and almost lost him. They watch as his great grandchildren smile up at him. Just yesterday. And so, I am going to make the most of the time I have today. Family is so important. Don't allow your "now" to consume you so much that you miss out on opportunities to love deeply those who may be gone before you know it. Opportunities that someday you will wish you could have again. One more visit. One more talk. One more hug. One more "I love you". Love is God's greatest commandment and one that we often overlook, without ever realizing it. We look at our grandparents and just see "old" but that moment of your life that you are living right now, that was their yesterday and one day you will be living their todays. I am a grandma now and the love I have for my grandkids can't even be put into words. I know it would mean the world to me if someday, when they are old enough, they asked me to tell them the story of me. To tell them the story of my daddy. With a heart over flowing with love, I want to tell them every single detail before my yesterdays are gone and I will be ever thankful to God for my todays.