It's Their Anniversary

Yesterday my parents celebrated their 27th Wedding Anniversary - YES, 27 years!!! Among most of my friends and my younger cousins, my brother and I have always been a minority - while many of them never experienced both of their parents in the home with them or they had to go through the devastation of their parents divorcing, we could not relate.

We have had to be their support system, tell them it would be ok. Sometimes it was difficult being the older cousin knowing what they were going through tore their world a part - how could I convincingly make them feel better and accept the cards they were dealt when if the shoe was on the other foot, I am not sure how I would handle it.

Then there was the jealousy we experienced from people we dated. They always wanted to hold it against us because of the environment we grew up in, what we were accustomed to. Something we thought was routine - family dinner or vacations every year, we realized weren't everyone's routine. People would try to belittle our opinions because we just did not understand and we were spoiled. The truth of the matter is we were blessed. Blessed that despite the odds, our parents always made their relationship work - even with my father being a cop and working crazy shifts - even with my mom having a demanding position in a Fortune 500 company always being on call, sometimes working long hours - they always made sure we had the best they could offer us - we were never involved in "adult matters" - if they were fighting about anything, we never saw it and it did not have an impact on whatever we had planned (or they never let us see). We were allowed to just be kids. And for that I am eternally thankful and grateful.

Too many children are forced to grow up too fast because they have to deal with "adult matters". Yes, I had to take care of my brother - babysit, make him food if my parents worked late, get him ready for football practice, scrub his pants, help him with his homework, defend him if someone did something to him I did not agree with - but I enjoyed doing these things. I always thought I was his "mom" too - yes, we fought and still do - but our parents always made us work it out and still do. Ha!

It is because of their foundation they instilled that I am who I am today - familial units are very important to me and I am protective of it. I can only hope to mirror the example they set when I one day have a family of my own.

So what do you do for your 27th wedding anniversary?! As of late, they usually take a vacation BUT this year they did not book anything - my mom actually worked and my dad was off. You know what that means, right?!