It's A Big Day

It's hard for me to imagine, but 43 years ago yesterday, my parents got married. Since that day, they've raised three kids (some of us turned out better than others), moved a few times, displayed endless generosity, helped out numerous neighbors, made hundreds of friends, taken great vacations, become grandparents, and have never slowed down. They've supported each other, worked through disagreements, traveled independently and have always looked forward to seeing each other at the end of the day. They don't expect perfection from each other, but they do expect honesty, compassion and most of all, a sense of humor.

In addition to it being their anniversary, yesterday also marks the anniversary of the day that they drove to Chicago to welcome me into the family. I've heard stories about the long drive from central Minnesota to O'Hare, my dad's broken pants zipper that he fixed with a diaper pin, the night they had to spend in the airport after my flight from Korea was delayed and most of all, the condition I was in when they first saw me.

I smelled like I had a chronic case of diarrhea (because I did), my scalp was covered with a thick layer of cradle cap, my hair stuck straight up and according to my brothers, I looked like a toad. The Korean woman that escorted me from the orphanage must have sensed that my appearance might encourage my adoptive parents to run the other away after taking one look at me, so she mastered one English phrase: "Very nice baby." Yeah, right.

To this day, I am forever grateful to my parents for voluntarily choosing me, coming to pick me up, looking past my cradle cap and always making sure that I knew who my family really was. And they did all of this on their anniversary.

I love you, and happy anniversary mom and dad. Now let's go celebrate with bratwurst and beer at the baseball game!