Chapter 34 Love and Legacy

 
    I write mostly in this blog about the little lady who made me a parent. Dani Marie's story is the heart of this blog. I love sharing her journey, our memories, the Lord's latest workings in our lives with her, etc. Tonight I want to share a little about her grandparents. They are such an important part of her life and mine. They were praying for this tiny miracle long before she arrived.

  Dani Marie and I have wonderful bedtime talks. We "splish splash", read, review letters and sounds,(Can you say teacher mommy?) and pray at night. We like to take a few minutes and just chat. She is such a silly girl and will often make me laugh during these special times. As we say our prayers, I often ask her who she would like to thank Jesus for....The Lord has blessed Dani Marie with four wonderful grandparents to love her rotten. Her Nano and Pop always make her list when she is thanking Jesus. Granna and Papa are without fail some of the first to make the cut. It's so precious to hear her thank The Lord for the special people in our lives. Tonight after I tucked her in, I thought about just why I am so thankful for her Granna and Papa for my own reasons.
   My parents story is something a lot of people don't really know. I won't go into great detail because it's their story to tell. I will give you the general idea.
   My parents didn't have easy lives. My father has known more tragedy in his life that I think one person should have to bear. His father was killed in a shrimp-boat accident when he was a toddler. His mother was left to do the best she could. She had seven children and was not able to take care of all of them. My dad went to live with an aunt. He didn't grow up in the house with his mother or his siblings. His sister Ella Marie died as a child, his brother James Luke died after a fire from smoke inhalation, etc. The list goes on.
  My mom came from a family that didn't have much. She wasn't able to go to school, go to college, she worked as a full-time waitress at the age of fifteen to help support her younger sisters. A full-time waitress at fifteen??? I can't imagine that???
  Here they were just kids....kids who had been dealt a sorry hand. Kids who were young in age but mature beyond their years in life experience. They met, fell in love, and were married a few months later. That's right I said months.
   This all sounds like a recipe for disaster right???? Well......42 years later..... That couple of kids are the most wonderful Granna and Papa that Dani Marie could ask for. The best parents I could have ever hoped for. How? With the deck stacked against them they could have easily thrown in the towel. They could have blamed unstable homes, poverty, limited education, and negative circumstances and allowed those things to become a crutch. Instead they made a promise to God, each other, and themselves to thrive. They chose to feed the inner qualities of work ethic, willpower, loyalty, perseverance, and most of all selfless sacrifice to completely rewrite their story. My story... and now Dani Marie's story.... You see I'm living my dream. I'm a teacher. I'm a teacher because they were determined to sew in the furniture factory until fingers bled, to work long hours as a grocery store manager, to cook biscuits at Hardee's, to work night shift so that I could have the wings to follow my dream. I knew I would go to college. I always knew.
  I guess like most children it took me becoming an adult....more specifically a parent to truly understand and comprehend the level of sacrifice they made for me. I can now fully appreciate the life they gave me...the life they gave us.
   So as I turn out the light tonight and shut the door with tears in my eyes, I whisper a thank you Jesus for Granna and Papa of my own. For Everything....

Thank you Jesus for Granna
Prays my baby girl
Thank you for Papa
He's the best in the world!
Her tender words so honest and true.
If all the things they did for her she only knew.
I give her a hug and squeeze her tight.
I kiss her softly and turn out the light.
I'm proud that she adores and loves them so,
But she just doesn't know...
Before they were the best Granna and Papa in the world,
They were the greatest Mom and Dad to another little girl.

Tonight I'm so thankful for good parents. The kind I had. The kind I hope to be.

Love y'all