Randy Suits

The Best Part of It All

My Kochana,
Often our children disappoint us in their decisions. In most cases, when parents pass on to their reward, they will quickly grab up everything of worldly value like, property, money, gold, jewelry, etc. However, it is a great disappointment that those items with great intrinsic value they will sell in an estate sale.   Most family photos, of great value to us, are disposable. The old home, where they grew up is just a source of revenue and is quickly listed for sale. This is a source of sadness for parents. We see evidence of this tendency in our adult children. As much as we love our children, we protect them by preserving and wisely spending our financial assets to last over our entire life. Since we don’t know when God will call us home, we carefully apportion our financial resources to provide for ourselves without burdening those we love. Sometimes we are disappointed in our children. We labored in teaching, instructing, cautioning and chastising them. We are overwhelmed by the manifold blessings and joy we shared when they were babies, teens and adults. My uncle once told me when I was complaining about the hard task of a young family that a time would come when I would see that this was the best part of it all. He said, “Last night your aunt Tressie and I were talking about how we would stay up late at night preparing for a family picnic. Tressie would make sandwiches, salads, tea, lemonade, cakes and cookies until late in the evening. We would arise early. get the kids out of bed, dress them, (sometimes twice because one would get dirty before we left) pack the car and the kids would sleep in the back seat until we arrived at the picnic area. We would visit with family and friends and the kids would run and play happily. Then we would say our goodbyes, repack the car with baskets and left over food, round up the children and start back (the kids of course quickly fell asleep). When we arrived back home we would carry the kids to bed, dress them in their pajamas, unpack and finally, completely exhausted, climb into bed and sleep. Looking back, son, that was the best part of it all.” We had those same experiences. At the time, it was exhausting, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way. Our family was worth every effort. The best part of it all is that we endured and learned to love each other more each day. Our memories are golden. They are treasures in our lives that we will always hold dear. I love the hard times and the good days we’ve faced together, It was the best part of it all.

Thank you for sharing everything with me, the hard times and the good days,Kochany