I spent the weekend with my extended family in Florida celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of my mother and father in law. They married back in 1962 when they were oh so young and in love. Their actual anniversary was at the end of May, but we chose to celebrate on the 9th so everyone with kids in school could make it. Little did we know that Joe would pass four days after their actual anniversary.
You would think that the celebration would have been turned into a funeral, but true to form, his wife took it in stride and continued with the anniversary party. She wanted to remember the 50 wonderful years they were married with happiness instead of looking upon it in sadness. She is an amazing woman and I am so very fortunate to be part of her family.
In 50 years, I will be too old to blog, but I sincerely hope that my husband and I can look back at our time together and smile the way that she smiled the entire day. Everyone shared their memories of how Joe and Donna came out to the baseball games and a million other great times that were had in their presence.
It makes me wonder what people would say about me if I were gone. Would they say how kind and patient I was, or how organized and clean I was. As I am pretty sure I know the answer to that, I am definitely going to have to reconsider my OCD tendencies about how clean the house is! I need to sit back and relax with my family more and worry less about the mess and more about those I adore. That's my new mantra...
I would say both. And strong, flexible, resourceful, generous, warm....
ReplyDeleteThanks Steph...
DeleteI just had this conversation with my dad on Sunday. He said, "Isn't there other things you'd like to spend your money on than a trip?"
ReplyDeleteAnd I said that when my kids were older and looked back, they'd remember that trip, regardless of where it was, and remember that their mom did more than work all the time.
It is definitely a hard balance. I am learning little by little that the memories are more important that the messes.
DeleteI'm so sorry to hear that he passed, but what a wonderful way to celebrate his life. It does make you wonder what people will say doesn't it? I have the same problem as you. I hope that people remember me as fun loving and spirited not the clean freak that made everyone's life miserable because a toy was out of place. Lesson learned. Thank you. I needed that today!
ReplyDelete