Happy Anniversary to My Folks

Here's to The Admiral and KareBear, two of the finest people I know and the best parents I ever had.
Today marks their 46th Wedding Anniversary, I think.  Something like that.  I'm sure someone will tell me if my math is wrong.

Like all great romances, my parents met at a bar.  My dad was in the Air Force, post-Vietnam, stationed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  My mom was a local, finishing up college.  I guess romance blossomed or some such.  Booze will do that for you.

Soon, my dad got out of the Air Force and my mom married my dad and she moved to live with him in Miami, which I figure had to have been a heck of a culture shock.  He was from Hialeah and went to community college for a while and my mom worked, then they both got into the University of Florida where my mom got her Masters in Education while teaching and my dad went straight from his undergrad to his Masters in Business.  I think he was working at a 7-11.

Anyway, they've really managed to make this marriage business work.  It ain't Ozzie and Harriet, but they do that teamwork thing as well or better than anyone I know.

In addition, they basically didn't mess up raising two kids of their own while helping with countless other kids and grown-ups via my mom's jobs teaching, through their church work, through philanthropic work, through friends, random people they meet, and countless other activities.   And that's not to mention all the stuff they did for me and Jamie over the years (and my brother and his wife, too).  And now they've stepped up as terrific grandparents for my nephew, Raylan.

If you want to know why I think a do-gooder like Superman is a pretty good idea, I grew up living with these two.  They never asked for recognition or thought they were doing much more than what you were supposed to if you had the ability to do so.  Good folks, my folks.  Hard standard to live up to.

Happy Anniversary to a great set of parents.

I forgot to get you a card.