This was written about a year ago, but it still applies! 

I have since sent thos to my parents, who sometimes don't know how we feel about them.  I remember when I was growing up, how all the kids wished my parents were their parents.  No one else listened the way my parents did, and I try to do the same with my own kids.

I have got two of the best parents in the world.  When I was growing up, everyone wanted my prents to be their parents!  Through it all, they have been there for me, picked me up when I have fallen, and always encouraged me to keep going.  I can remember many times they were there for me, when I least expected it, too.  Well, it has happened again. 

Mom called tonight to pick my brain about a virus she has had for the last week.  Being a nurse, I get a lot of that, and I don't mind at all.  Thing is, we got to talking about my back, and how I am waiting for my QMB determination to go through, to know whether or not I can go to the univeristy hospital for possible treatment and surgery.  After I hung up, Mike brings me the phone again!  It was Daddy this time.

After many tears, and false starts, Daddy told me that he and Mom would pay for anything Medicare wouldn't cover, so I could get my back taken care of.  How can one kid be so lucky to have two such wonderful parents.  I know I have been blessed, and I try hard to be the same parent they have always been for me.  It ain't always easy, and they tell me that is normal.  God knows there have been days when I wanted to choke the s**t out of them, and other days when I just wanted to hug the stuffing out of them.  No matter what, I love them all.  Jennifer, who won't talk to her old mom  or anyone esle in the family anymore, Saundra, who has forgiven her mom for being an idiot human, with all the human flaws that go with it, Cory, who is learning to trust me and accept me as a step mom, and Ashley who is more like me than I care to admit and drives me absolutely nuts sometimes, but has more love than she wants the world to see.

God, I thank you for my parents, my daughters, and my step children.  I thank you for Mike, and all the challenges and pain along the way that has made me who I am today.

Hang in there folks, if you have kids.  They are worth all the frustration, hair pulling (Yours not theirs), knuckle biting (again yours) laughter, joy, and just plain everything that goes with being a parent.  Through it all, there is no greater blessing than your children, whether they are yours, or your step children.  You love them, you teach them the best you can, and you pray hard you have given them what they need to succeed in life, and then....  You get ready to be there to catch them when they fall, as they will.  Just as you have.

Thanks Mom and Dad!  You have made me what I am today, and God took care of the rest, through you.