I am writing this blog to my kids, Thom, David, Sarah, Skye,
James and Patrick. In a few weeks we will all be going in different directions.
Thom the oldest and the one who is always there when we
call, sometimes holler, Thom. You do what ever we may ask, sometimes with a
grumble, but haven’t we all grumbled about things in our lives. You will be
going with mom and I to Prince Edward Island and start a new adventure with us.
David moved out a few years ago, more years ago than I can
really remember. Your married to Samantha and the two of you have three
handsome sons, Jayden, Ethan and Rory. You have found out I am sure, both of you the
joys of being a parent.
Sarah, our oldest daughter. You will be moving to an
apartment with Pat and starting an adventure of your own. Adventure number
three for you, remembering England and the first time you had an apartment. You
wanted to try the world on your own. Grandma and everyone here helped you get
to England and we were here to help when circumstances said you had to get
back.
Skye, our quiet one. Skye is the daughter that quietly sits
by seeming to enjoy the quiet life, all the while you are there with Sir
Winston. You will be joining us in our new adventure and who knows where that
will lead you, maybe that Tiny House that you would love to have on acres of
land.
James, our basketball star. You have had your ups and downs,
no I’m not referring to stuffing the ball in the hoops, but you have always
come out on top. You are on your own adventure, spreading your wings. A new
job, a new home and all the “fun” entailed in being on your own.
Patrick, the worker, the youngest and the own who always has
something going, from selling pencils in school to helping put lumber in people’s
vehicles. Your testing your freedom as you start out on life’s adventure after
school. You and Sarah will be sharing an
apartment. Chloe and Poppy will be fine friends.
Now that you have read that you are wondering why I said all
of that, right? Well as you go out on your own Mom and I want you to know that
we are always here for you! Each of you are a unique individual, with special
talents of your own, that have developed over your life. Each of you have had
ups and downs, happy times, sad times, good times and tough times.
What you may not realize is that when you become a parent
they don’t give you a manual on how to be a parent. It is trial by fire from
the moment we first hold you to the day we breathe our last breath. Yes, we
will always be your parents. We will be there to help with advice, the
sometimes needed bag of milk, a shoulder to cry on, lean on. We will always
have a place for you to “stay for a few nights”, a place at the dinner table.
Being a parent means giving of yourself before taking care
of yourself. It means that we always put our kids first through life. Then as
you grow you sometimes start to think that the grass is greener at your best
friends’ home. Why can’t I have that my friend has one? Hey mom will bake some
cookies, I really like chocolate chip and had some at my friends house they
were great? I need a new bike, the one you got me last year is all rusted and
bent, can we go now and get one we have a class bike ride tomorrow.
Oh, yes the parental money tree never runs out. You didn’t always
get what you asked for, but a great amount of the times you did. There were
times when we needed new shoes, shirts or other pieces of clothing that we
redirected funds to get the things you absolutely needed. You will never know
what or when we did, why did we do it, because you are once of our kids and you
needed something, we did it out of love.
We really are no different than most other parents out
there. None of us were parents before, the closest we ever were was being
someone else’s kid. We made the same kind of requests, we thought we didn’t get
what we needed and more. We thought one of our siblings was more favoured or
got more than us. We thought, “when I grow up and have kids I won’t…” There is a good chance that when you grow up
and have kids you will do…! You will know you have because you will hear a
little voice that lets you know you just did what we did and that you swore you
never would.
Over the last couple of years everyone had to help pitch in
and help the family. Whether it was a loaf of bread, a bag of milk, pizza for
the family or more. We did as a family! Things indeed have been tight, but we
did it together. You may feel you chipped in more than another and it may be
true, but remember the time when they felt you got more help than them.
Remember all the sacrifices mom and I may have made to help each
of you get to where you are today. Some of you listened to our advice, some didn’t,
the choice was yours to make, that is part of growing up. Grumbling because you
did this and that person didn’t or because we didn’t quite thank you each time
the way you think we should have, maybe you were thanked in other ways, ways
you didn’t recognize.
Let me tell you a short story. When I was a teen one of my
grandparents passed away and left each of the grandchildren some money. My dad
had his own business, he was short of funds to meet some required payments and
asked if he could borrow the money from me. He said he would pay it back. It
seemed to me that he never did, but looking at the whole story made me realize
that he did and then some. He made sure that I had a car, when I was raising my
boys he was there with some money more than once when I needed it. You see we
may not recognize things when they happen, or may not be willing to recognize
it but parents are always there whether we see it or not.
Parenting never ends. Being a child of a parent never ends.
Knowing how to parent is a learning experience, no parent is perfect. We try
and do our best, some times we fail, some times we pass, hopefully we pass more
frequently.
Parents love their children unconditionally, for better for
worse. We will always be there for you, we are family!
