36 Years...a blog about the best parents a guy could ask for.
November 11, 1972.
A national holiday.
William Rodney Benson and Sally L. Short were married in Rochester, NY.
A year and 38 days later...young William Rodney Benson Jr. was born.
A year and a half later, Betty Lee Benson was born.
A family was created...my family.
In 1972, we didn't have internet, cell phones were considered 'Star Trek' technology, cars were simple enough to repair yourself, there were 4 stations on the TV and if the president was on...your night was shot. It was a time before the end of the Vietnam war. Divorce was still somewhat taboo, and people read newspapers and watched the nightly news for information.
Today I sit in my office in my basement and my parents are in Canada. They left Sunday after service and hopefully are having a great time.
I sit here today thinking about my family. I had so many people I grew up with with broken homes. Parents who couldn't relate to each other, who even hated each other. Who fought and couldn't find common ground. I saw what they did to their kids...and I have to say even then I was thankful. As an adult even now...I look at my family and am amazed. I can count on one hand I think the number I"ve seen my parents fight. Even as an adult. That's not to say they were perfect...or have a love story for the ages. My parents are in love. There is no doubt there...but it's not the harps and flowers kind. (Though that's there). It's the true kind. The unspoken kind...the kind that as a kid I counted on. I knew every day I went to sleep I'd wake up in the morning with both of them there. I know that as I get older...my parents will be parted ONLY by death. Their love story is a real one. One of shared experiences. One of stubbornness. One that said "Yes at times we're angry...but divorce isn't an option". One that said "My life is BETTER for having you in it. I know that..." It's a love that isn't incediary. One that isn't the type to light up the sky only to diminish. It's more like a pilot light. Always burning the same. At times it can be expanded, or grown with the right conditions...but it can NEVER diminish.
That's the kind of love I've seen my parents have the 34 years I've been blessed to see it. It's the type of love I always wanted, and have found with Deb. One that has stood every obstacle put before it. Sometimes only by the sheer stubborness of the people involved.
Like a pilot light...it requires a source. An unending supply of fuel to keep it burning. For Deb and I...that source is no doubt our faith in God. Early on in our marriage (much like my parent's) Deb and I had our issues. (Mostly my issues obviously)...but even when things were at their bleakest and darkest...we both knew God's word on marriage and knew that if we toughed it out...we could make it.
For my parent's in the early days I imagine it was much the same. I don't talk to them about those dark days. I guess as a son...I don't ever want to entertain the notion that there were ever problems.
Instead I look at them and I see so many ways that I want my marriage to go...both by what they did and what they didn't do. Which I guess is the point of me existing at all. To be the sum of ALL my parent's parts...Mom, Dad, and God.
I encourage you...even if your parents split...or are gone. Take a few seconds today and just think about them. I know how blessed I am that both are here...and together. I feel as secure today as I did when I was a kid. My parents will be together always. Their love is the love not of stories, or legends...but of life. Given a choice...I'd choose that everytime.
Thanks for reading;
A national holiday.
William Rodney Benson and Sally L. Short were married in Rochester, NY.
A year and 38 days later...young William Rodney Benson Jr. was born.
A year and a half later, Betty Lee Benson was born.
A family was created...my family.
In 1972, we didn't have internet, cell phones were considered 'Star Trek' technology, cars were simple enough to repair yourself, there were 4 stations on the TV and if the president was on...your night was shot. It was a time before the end of the Vietnam war. Divorce was still somewhat taboo, and people read newspapers and watched the nightly news for information.
Today I sit in my office in my basement and my parents are in Canada. They left Sunday after service and hopefully are having a great time.
I sit here today thinking about my family. I had so many people I grew up with with broken homes. Parents who couldn't relate to each other, who even hated each other. Who fought and couldn't find common ground. I saw what they did to their kids...and I have to say even then I was thankful. As an adult even now...I look at my family and am amazed. I can count on one hand I think the number I"ve seen my parents fight. Even as an adult. That's not to say they were perfect...or have a love story for the ages. My parents are in love. There is no doubt there...but it's not the harps and flowers kind. (Though that's there). It's the true kind. The unspoken kind...the kind that as a kid I counted on. I knew every day I went to sleep I'd wake up in the morning with both of them there. I know that as I get older...my parents will be parted ONLY by death. Their love story is a real one. One of shared experiences. One of stubbornness. One that said "Yes at times we're angry...but divorce isn't an option". One that said "My life is BETTER for having you in it. I know that..." It's a love that isn't incediary. One that isn't the type to light up the sky only to diminish. It's more like a pilot light. Always burning the same. At times it can be expanded, or grown with the right conditions...but it can NEVER diminish.
That's the kind of love I've seen my parents have the 34 years I've been blessed to see it. It's the type of love I always wanted, and have found with Deb. One that has stood every obstacle put before it. Sometimes only by the sheer stubborness of the people involved.
Like a pilot light...it requires a source. An unending supply of fuel to keep it burning. For Deb and I...that source is no doubt our faith in God. Early on in our marriage (much like my parent's) Deb and I had our issues. (Mostly my issues obviously)...but even when things were at their bleakest and darkest...we both knew God's word on marriage and knew that if we toughed it out...we could make it.
For my parent's in the early days I imagine it was much the same. I don't talk to them about those dark days. I guess as a son...I don't ever want to entertain the notion that there were ever problems.
Instead I look at them and I see so many ways that I want my marriage to go...both by what they did and what they didn't do. Which I guess is the point of me existing at all. To be the sum of ALL my parent's parts...Mom, Dad, and God.
I encourage you...even if your parents split...or are gone. Take a few seconds today and just think about them. I know how blessed I am that both are here...and together. I feel as secure today as I did when I was a kid. My parents will be together always. Their love is the love not of stories, or legends...but of life. Given a choice...I'd choose that everytime.
Thanks for reading;
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