(I lifted this picture from Heidi's blog. It's okay as long as it's all in the family, right?)

Strap Yourself to the Tree with Roots

You often hear people when they get to their forties & fifties talk about how wild & different they were when they were younger. I even hear people my own age talk this way. Somehow, though, I can't imagine my mom & dad being much different then they are now. I've heard some stories that attempt to suggest that they were wild & crazy (like mom with that one bottle of wine that she had in college), but other stories prove me right. Maybe someday we could prove this in court, or maybe in the cow palace.

Let's just look at that picture, shall we? I think you can look at any picture of my old man from the last thirty years when he is smiling for the camera, & I think you will find the exact same smile that you see in that picture. Quite comforting, isn't it? It's the same smile & wave he gives when your leaving his house, when no matter how cold it is, he'll keep standing there until you are gone. How about my mother? Everytime I hear that story about how she woke up the day of her wedding & her & her bridesmaids started singing "Going to the chapel & were gonna get married" part of me gets sick to the stomach, but the other part of me remembers how she'd be singing during any old day in the morning when I was a kid. It's the same way when she gets together with her sisters & they start singing those old songs.

I've got to admit that until I saw Heidi's blog, I forgot that it was their wedding anniversary. It's just like my parents not to remind me, & it's just like their son to forget. Anyway, I don't need a day to remind me of how much my parents mean to me. I'm reminded everytime my dad tells me a bad joke, or whenever my mom bugs me for information about a girl I'm dating. So maybe things never change that much, I wouldn't have it any other way. There's nobody in the world like them. Is it okay to say you are proud of your parents? I don't care, I'm saying it anyway. I'm proud of you two & love you very much.

I wish we had some sort of recording of my parents singing during their wedding. What was the song called? Maybe I'll get to hear it someday.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Shelter from the Storm-Bob Dylan, 1994
Shouldn't Be Ashamed-Wilco, Summerteeth
Born in Time-Bob Dylan, 1994
As I Rise-Decemberists, Her Majesty the Decemberists
South Central Rain (I'm Sorry)-REM

andrew