Influenced by....my parents

You know the old saying, "It takes a town to raise a child.." That would possibly be very true of me. Living in a small town America it does tend to be the responsibility (and privilege) of raising others children. The friends that I was in first grade with, were the very same friends I graduated with. There were my besties parents that treated me as their own and vice versa. All wonderful role models. There aren't a whole lot of people that can say that. I was going to start now and go back but decided I better start from the beginning. I will say that my parents have been the most important influence in my life. From as early as I can remember, even though I didn't have a word for it, I had a feeling of what unconditional love was. The love that they had and still have for one another is truly an inspiration to me. The character traits that I learned from them, I am frantically trying to teach our children and am seeing that it isn't such an easy job. That patience that my mother has and still has with my father is immeasurable. The way that no matter what time he use to get in from the hospital or have to leave unexpectedly at lunch on Thanksgiving..no complaining...just keeping a plate for him and having it hot when he got home. The compassion that my father has for people when I would've been so done with them. It all comes from making God the center of a marriage. I get it now.