Honor Thy Father....

After Mass yesterday, we drove up to Loveland to visit with my dad and stepmother. Driving up there, I began to think about how many times in my life I have driven north to either Loveland or Fort Collins.

My sister lives in Fort Collins, and has for 30-some years. Her two children are in the same age group as our youngest son – late 20s, early 30s. Our son and his cousin are one month (almost to the day) apart in age. They have been very close friends since they began hanging out with each other in the crib. In addition, my father and mother moved to Fort Collins over 15 years ago. After my mother died, my dad eventually remarried and now they live in Loveland.

Because of this proximity, we have spent a great deal of time with them, which has resulted in literally thousands of trips north. Some day I should actually try and figure out the approximate number of trips. That way I could free up some brain cells that I now waste wondering about such trivial matters.

It’s unfortunate that it takes something like my mother-in-law’s heart attack to remind me how important it is to spend time with our parents. I always enjoy myself when I visit with my dad and stepmom. They are both very smart people with lots of life experience. It’s so much fun to talk about kids, grandkids, politics, food, and memories. We sit around the table and solve the problems of the world. (If only that were true!)

Yesterday God poked me in the ribs and reminded me that our parents aren’t here forever.