Thankful Thursday: Mom & Dad

This morning I found myself thinking about my parents.

I've been reading the book David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I'm not very far into it, so I'm still reading about David's childhood. He was mistreated in a terrible way by his step father. It just makes me angry to read it!

Maybe that's what got me thinking about my own parents, who (in my opinion) are just about as close to perfect parents as you can get in this imperfect world. I loved and respected them as a child, but as an adult (and a parent myself) I have really come to appreciate all the things they've done for me and what they have accomplished as parents. My love and respect have grown even more.

I look back at my childhood and teen years, and although I remember times that I was sad, upset, and worried by things that were happening at school or with my friends or at my job, I remember home as being the happy place; the place I was loved no matter what just as I was; the place where everything was always all right. In short, home was a haven.

As a parent myself, I appreciate my parents' ability to be consistent, to have few rules but to stick to the rules we had, to be firm but not too firm. So much of being a parent is finding a happy medium--my parents found it! I'm still working on that, myself.

Mom. What else can I say about Mom? I so underappreciated all the things she was doing every day while I was at school. I remember Mom being busy almost always--and no wonder! We had a real, cooked breakfast every school day. All our bread and cookies were home made. So were almost all of our clothes. (I still miss getting a new Easter dress every year, and the new school clothes every fall! I remember the other girls, with their "cookie cutter" store-bought dresses, looking longingly at the beautiful one-of-a-kind creations my mom made me!) She kept up with 8 kids (twice as many as I do!) and all their schedules. How did she do all that?

I remember as a child that when Mom wasn't home (and this was relatively rare--she was almost always home when I was) nothing felt quite right until she got back. Mom got excited for us when good things happened and she was sympathetic when bad things happened. (There are days I wish that I could still crawl into her lap!) I remember Mom always being involved in church service, fufilling her callings the best that she could. As a child, I envied her faith and the close relationship she so obviously had with the Savior. Mom read the scriptures to us younger kids before school, teaching me how important the scriptures are. She didn't usually comment about them, but I still remember the comments she did make.

Then there's Dad. He refuses to take the credit for all the good he did. If anyone says he has good kids, he claims it's all because of Mom. It's true that Mom was with us more--"down in the trenches" every day, and therefore she has had a profound impact on my life. Dad was gone a lot, but in doing that he taught me many things. Through his example I learned the importance of having a good work ethic, of doing the best that you can for your employer and taking pride in being dependable. Through his example I learned that providing for a family is noble work. I learned from him that church service is important, too--to give myself 100% to whatever I am asked to do. Even when Dad was home, he was usually working--yard work (he always got us to help, so we know how to do it, too), fixing things (He can fix just about anything! Car mechanic? Plumber? What are those?!), helping Mom.

Dad taught me, by example, to say "I'm sorry" when I make a mistake. He always impressed upon me the importance of thinking of others, to be kind and considerate instead of harming or inconveniencing others with my thoughtlessness, that taking a little bit of extra care can spare a lot of hurt and trouble.

Together, my parents somehow managed to convey to me the importance of being responsible with money and living within our means. They taught me the importance of following the commandments and having faith that the Lord will provide. They taught me that the little things, like family prayer, family home evening, and personal scripture study are important. They taught me to have faith and to keep moving forward.

I could probably write all day, if I had time, but these are the things that jumped into my mind first as I was thinking about my parents today.

I owe them both so much.

I am thankful for my parents!