Days that are past

After spending the day cleaning out the kitchen pantry it was time to take Taya, Lauren and Emmy home. Pop decided to drive so we all piled in the car and went on the journey to Taya's house. On the way home we stayed on Sossaman and that took us through what used to be Williams Air Force Base. Papa pointed out the different sites on the way through the base. Of course it is very different now than it used to be. Among the things he was remembering was the Base Ops building where Nana was working when he met her. Among her duties there she recorded pilot time in their logs on record. The building isn't there anymore, but the trees that were next to it are. Those little remembrances are like windows to a side of Papa and Nana I don't know. I always say how much I would love to know my parents as they were as young marrieds, or even while they were dating. There is so much we can only glimpse about their personalities, dreams and goals at those ages. It's like in the movie “Field of Dreams” where he gets to see his Dad as a young man. We just don't realize how very much like us our parents are and were. Or I should say we are like them. They went through similar ups and downs, disappointments, career changes, financial highs and lows, children and all they bring, marital thick and thin (even literally for some of us) and all the things we think are exclusive to us. I can feel Papa's longing for his sweetheart thick in the air as he remembers places they went and things they did. I can tell when he watches us interact and go through the every day things we do he is remembering those things they did everyday too. Thank heaven they loved each other so much that the hurt of being separated right now is worth it. There is no pain of loss if there is no love. This Thanksgiving season I am grateful for parents that stuck out the bad times that I'm sure they had and cherished the love and bond of a forever marriage. They did what was best for them and us as they were raising us. In this crazy world family is more important than ever, and I'm glad for mine. All of them, all the time.