{Giveaway is Closed}
Winner is #91: Anash
Sharing time with my family, especially my parents, at this time of my life is certainly sweet. I don’t take them for granted anymore and know that time is limited with them. The days will go by quickly, and the older I get and they get, I know I have to savor the moments when they come.
Paying tribute and honoring my parents is very important to me at this time of my life. I don’t plan to move very far from them at all, if I can help it, when I find another home of my own one day soon. We are bonded and we need each other.
Family is forever. I couldn’t have made it this past year without them. 
My mom’s birthday and Mother’s Day are both in May, and Father’s Day and my dad’s birthday come around in June and July. Sharing family time with them is special. My mom and I have breakfast together every morning at the table, eating cereal and sipping coffee, each reading the paper, knowing the other is there. It’s very comforting. 
My dad and I have enjoyable conversations about blogging and life. He is still my defender, my strong and capable dad, whom I’ve always looked up to.
Celebrating them and the time I have with them is very important to me right now, and I’m doing just that.
It makes me happy to see my mom smile from the bedroom and bathroom renovations we’ve been able to do these last few weeks. I’m overjoyed to do this for them, and it makes me happy that they are sharing in benefits and perks that come along. I enjoy spending time with them, getting their opinions, hearing wisdom shared day by day. So, how do we share and celebrate those people in our lives who are so important to us?
We savor and enjoy the everyday moments of life, letting them know how important they are to us.
How do you pay tribute to the people you love? Leave me a comment answering that question to be entered for a chance to win a $100 Starbucks card, courtesy of BlogHer.
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I try to do little things for those closest to me – making a favorite recipe just because I know they will enjoy it, sending an email just to say good morning and have a great day, or just some thing that I know will help them out on a rough day.
Wow! What a beautiful post. I wish every person in the world could read it. If only people loved and honored their family….I am so sad to think about the diminishing of the family these days…also wanted to say your niece Lauren looks exactly like your dad. Is that everyone’s opinion?
I plan to honor them while they are alive by giving gifts and other verbal tokens of my expression.
Rhoda,
So nice to read about your fabulous relationship with your parents! I always ask my hubs if he thinks the girls will live near us when they move away one day (hope so)! He says they never have to leave home (I wouldn’t go that far)!!
I love having my parents and my in-laws over – cooking great meals together – seeing them with my girls is the best thing. I love that they have such a strong relationship with the grandparents.
Kelly
I am 60 years just lost my 87 year old mother last Thursday ,so hold your love ones close and let them know how much they mean to you ever day.
Quality, quality time…when you are really listening and often just being with the one you love. My mother spent her last eight years in an assisted living facility. We would often spend hours just holding hands.
Losing a loved one is a stark reminder how short life is and how important it is to make certain we show those in our lives how special they are to us. My Grandmother passed away this past weekend following hip surgery. I learned a precious life lesson watching my Dad doing special things for her even before the surgery. He made sure she knew how grateful he was to have her be his mother. I hope I am showing the same respect and love to him and my Mom. —–Shannon
Your post is beautiful, brought tears to my eyes. I loved the sentence “we need each other”. Your family is so special. My parents are no longer with us but I do have great grandchildren and I spend all he time I can with them.
My Mom and Dad were both born in Ireland and emigrated to New York City. They raised me and my four siblings with a love of all things Irish. Their Irish heritage was very important to them as it is to us. Every St. Patrick’s Day, they attended Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral and marched with their Irish county in the NY St. Patrick’s Day parade – and took the five of us along. To honor them, every year for St. Patrick’s Day, we all get together in New York with our spouses, children and grand-children in tow and follow (literally!) in their footsteps. After the parade, we eat corned beef and cabbage, recite Irish poetry, sing Irish traditional ballads and reminisce. All the kids get a kick out of it. Although our parents are both deceased now, we feel their spirit within us most profoundly on that special day. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you and your family and all your readers!
I love spending time with my mom as we share the same sense of humor and both love a good cup of coffee! Shes a huge help with my 3 little ones.
I love to travel home to Mobile and spend time on the boat with my family.
My Dad passed away six years ago but my Mom is still with us. She turned 90 in February and I celebrated with a dual birthday party for her and our youngest daughter who turned 27. She and her grandmother share the same birthday. We invited family, friends and my Mom’s entire Sunday School class. It was so much fun to see the enjoyment in my Mom’s face during the party. She was as excited as any child would be! I call my Mom every day and we go shopping and out for lunch together. I can confide in her about anything and I consider her my best friend as well as my mother.
I try to spend time with the ones I love and “listen”. I am grandmother to eight from ages 11 to 21. They grow up so fast and I want to spend as much time with them as I can.
We have two grandgirls. They’re 8 and 6 and adorable. We live in California, we live in Louisiana. I miss them so much. Years ago we started a tradition (by accident) that when we’d leave to come home after a visit or they would leave to go home, after many hugs & kisses and a few tears – I’d give them each a pack of orange Tic-Tacs. Those little mints are just a special way to say “goodbye and I love you”. Forever and ever. Amen.
At the moment, I’m going through cancer treatment. My husband of almost 43 years has been my champion, taking me to appointments and asking questions that I don’t think of, cooking, comforting me. Paying tribute to him is simple – I try to do the things I always used to do, just like ‘normal’. I can’t eat the things I used to, but I try to fix him some regular food so he can enjoy it.
Our children also have been so supportive, with phone calls, visits, emails. Their very frequent communication blesses me and lifts my spirits. Paying tribute to them is also simple, letting them know what their love and comfort mean to me. It’s hard to be a adult child and not be able to ‘do’ anything but hug your mom but it means the world to me.
TIME! time to call, email, visit, pamper, suprise – as you said, it’s the time we MAKE to spend with them – that honors there part in our lives. Our weekends and annual beach trip are sacred – when yes, they could easily be overlooked, over BOOKED, and/or cancelled. But I realize, like you have, that time may be short and every moment should be savored. Thanks for the reminder.
Rhoda – I’m so happy to hear how much you appreciate and love your parents. I lost both of my parents 3 years ago ( 4 months apart – they had been married for 67 years, and I guess they just couldn’t live without one another…) Not a day goes by that I don’t think of the both of them, their voices, their smiles and the way they loved me….You are so right to spend as much time as you can with your beloved Mother and Father. I truly believe there is no one on the earth that will love you more…..Appreciate every minute you have with them, and I know sometimes it can be trying, but keep reminding yourself every day that the time is limited. Patience, humor, and your devotion to them is what is most important in this time in their lives, and yours……God Bless you and your beloved parents…..
My comment was so long, I’m sorry ! But I meant to say that I just love the photo of your dear Dad, showing off his broccoli ! What a lovely, gentle man….
My parents have been deceased since the mid 90’s but it is so easy for me to continue to honor them. I have done so and continue to do so by emulating their compassion and integrity in my life and rearing my children by the life principles I learned from them. I still miss them so much and not a day passes that I don’t remember them with love.
I love the time spent with my parents and family. They are so special to me. I am so thankful that I have parents that are healthy and enjoy doing things with all of us. THey are the best.. You learn to appreciate them more and more each day.