Why Wait for a Funeral?

My parents are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this week and the family got together last weekend to help them celebrate. When they celebrated their 50th we had a big party with friends and neighbors invited. This time things were much less formal and only the immediate family was there.

Besides Mom and Dad, immediate family means children and their spouses, grandchildren and their spouses and great-grandchildren. The total was 18, with only one grandchild and one great-grandchild missing. Everyone brought something to eat, and as usually is the case when we all get together, there was laughter and joking, hugging and catching up. The most important part of the day, though, was the presentation of the gifts. There were no things. Instead each member of the family was asked to share three memories and in the case of the younger grand-kids, to share important things about Grammy and Grampa.

Everyone from my older brother down to our 4 year old niece took a turn. There was a memory of a special bike given on a birthday when my dad was out of work and things were pretty tight. There were memories of how my parents attended all of our games, concerts and plays. There were also memories of how they managed to deal with two of us who were in our teens when the other two were born. There were sacrifices we did not really understand until we had become grown with children of our own. There was the quiet assurance that our parents' support was always there, no matter what - - and there have been more than a few "whats".

The particular memories were great, but more important is the concept. One of my nieces commented that we had shared a lot of stuff usually shared at funerals. How lucky we were to not have waited for a funeral. But we did wait for a sixtieth wedding anniversary. Not everyone gets one of those.

So, don't wait for a funeral, or an anniversary, or a special birthday. Don't even wait for a special gathering, do it today. Today is a good day to thank someone for the special part they have played in your life. It is a great day to tell someone that something they said that they may not even remember, has made a difference in who you are.

People touch our lives every day. We usually find the time to complain about things people do to us - - today celebrate things people do for you.