I am thankful today that I had a mother and a father who loved me. I hear so many today who don’t want to take responsibility for their lives and blame their parents for everything. We’ve heard stories up to ying yang about how they came from a dysfunctional family. Well if you ask me, we all have a bit of dysfunction and it doesn’t always mean that you need a therapist.

We had very little when I was small and I suffered through with 2 ill parents. There are things I think I would have done differently but it wasn’t my position or my call. We tried to live life the best we could. My mom was truly a person who held the family together and my dad was the strongest man I have ever met.

I can still hear my mom and dad singing hymns at the kitchen table. I can still remember the smell of coffee and the special times of celebration when they let us have a sip of elderberry wine. I remember the special birthday cakes my mother made that we weren’t allowed to see until it was time to sing. They kept us close to them and they taught us to love God.

Did they make mistakes? Sure they did. Was everything peaches and cream? No, it was more like blood, sweat and tears, but looking back I wouldn’t replace them for the world.

Sometimes we see the negative things that have been passed down to us, but as I grow as a parent I also see some of the negative things I’ve passed down to my kids. I just pray that my children will also learn to love me with all my inconsistencies and take the responsibility to deal with what they don’t like in themselves. I am thankful for some of the decisions my parents made that I may have thought were bad ones. There is a pro and con to every choice that you make. In their favor is the fact that I grew up knowing without a doubt that whatever was done, they did with our best interest at heart. They also left me with a legacy that God will never leave me nor forsake me. They both passed away before I became an adult, but the lessons they taught me will last eternally.

Submitted by Irene Trueheart.