happy birthday, dad!

it's luther's birthday today!  52 years old. . .and yet, i can't seem to get the picture out of my head of him carrying my sister and i on his back when we played horsey when we were kids.  or his bedtime stories, as i can affectionately remember--"harold stories".  stories about the troubles harold would get into, the snowstorms he would get stuck in, or the various life lessons that were somehow embedded in this stories that involved both my upbringing and that of my father's.  

i remember one of these especially well.  my dad came out of the playroom with one of those plastic pumpkins that you use to collect candy in at halloween on his head.  i can't remember what the particular story was, but he was so into it that night.  

i have been blessed with such wonderful parents.  so loving and compassionate, even though i'm sure that i drive them crazy half of time.  (as they do to me once in a blue moon . . . ) on this day, i am even more grateful for the guy that has raised me and taught me most of what i know about life, love, and faith.  this guy has raised me the best way he knew how, and though there were times he probably want to rip my hair out, he did it with ease and grace.  my sister and i have turned into (what i perceive to be) well informed, happy and healthy young people.  this is thanks to the rich traditions of faith and love that our family has been grounded in.  

i can't believe i'm the daughter of a 52 year old!  and i'm turning 22. . .what?  i don't know what has happened to time, but it's passage continues to get more rapid as each year passes.  though we keep aging, we keep learning and through the knowledge that we are getting each and every day, we are growing.  from these parents i've learned so much about growth and nurturing that growth.  there are days when i hate it, and my body groans with pain as i continue to grow, but looking at my life in the rearview, i can see that those growing pains were well worth the groaning to get where i'm supposed to be.  

and am i where i'm supposed to be?  god only knows. . .but, i have a good idea of where i'm going and that's mostly because of my parents and my upbringing.  sure, they drive me crazy, what with their phone calls telling me to turn off my curling irons when i leave my own home.  but, for the most part, it's in my best interest.  they also know how to deal with the level of crazy i bring to the table and even kind of embrace it with me.  they push me to be a better person and push me to get educated and figure things out as i see fit.  (even when sometimes they see it as unfit).  

so, to my dad, you are my best friend.  i love you more than anything, and i am so lucky to have a man like you in my life, let alone a man like you to raise and teach me.  thank you for teaching me to love and have faith and to never lose sight of that very faith that sustains us and keeps us going.  you are a blessing, such a rich blessing that i thank god for every day.  thank you for showing me how to love, most of all.  thank you for giving me your big heart and compassion for people.  i see so much of myself in you.

and to my mother, though it isn't your birthday, it was, and you didn't get a blog post :)  i love you, mom.  i love the relationship that we've grown into (post high school graduation).  thank you for laughing with me and giving me sound advice when you know it's really important.  thank you for picking me up off of the floor countless times. . .you are a diamond in the rough, a sheep among wolves, and such a great role model for me as a young woman.  thank you for teaching kiri and i how to be ladies (though i don't always follow your advice).  one particular memory of you that i have from my childhood was the day that you and i tried to build a snow man outside of the parsonage at ROD.  it was so cold that day, and usually dad was the one that went out with us to build things out of the cold snow. . .but on that day, a day that i didn't have school, you went outside with me.  you played with me.  skipped your soap opera (the one you used to watch with head phones on so as to shelter me from the vulgar days of our lives) to play. 

i love you both, and am so utterly blessed.

happy birthday, dad!  and ma, thank you for being you.

fight the good fight,

+kaia