30 Days of Thanks - November 19th

[LJSDesigns]

Today I am thankful for my parents. Honestly, I am thankful for them everyday, but today I get to express it.

My parents married as teenagers and had three kids before my mom was 20. They went through a lot of hard times just like most couples, but their always centered around health. My brother had childhood cancer and my dad had a rare form of MD that hit him at the age of 39. Medical issues always lead to financial issues so my parents battled those as well with my Dad working up to three jobs most of my childhood trying to keep a roof over our heads and food in out bellies.

I didn't know how bad their struggles were until I was older. That's because my parents made the best of everything. When food was running out and all we had was cornmeal mush to eat, my parents made it a treat that we actually looked forward to.

They made our small two bedroom house a warm home where people, especially other children, loved to gather and were always welcomed. My mom was the most loved mom in the neighborhood -- all my friends used to wish she was their mom.

My dad always, always had two jobs until he was too sick to work and once we were all in school, mom joined the work force too, to help pay off those medical bills and get us a three bedroom home and more of the stuff we wanted. They gave us everything they could and worked their butts off to do it.

Mom and dad were married until the day he died, almost forty years, and while they never had it easy, fought some and bickered a lot, they loved each other and us with all their hearts. They taught us the value of hard work, an appreciation for the people we love and too many other lesson to count.

I know I said a lot in this post, but truly, their are no words to really say how truly blessed I was to have the parents I did. So today, I am thankful for Jim and Karen and the wonderful life they made possible for me and my family.