My love for my parents is real, honest and true. It's the most special kind of love there is. And being a mom to a daughter myself, I have developed this deep respect for my parents. My love for Ella mirrors the love they must have for me. The unconditional, always supportive, never judgmental, I'll-do-everything-in-my-power-to-be-there-for-you kind of love. I can seriously make myself cry when I think about how much they love me and have done for me. (Okay, I'm crying now). Maybe my parents have been feeling a little unappreciated or unacknowledged, since I have been mentioning my in-laws so much in recent posts. If that's the case, I'm very sorry. That was never my intention.
I have two sets of parents now, and I love them all so much! But, the love I have for my in-laws in no way takes away from the love I have for my own parents. In fact, I think my parents should take great pride that I've grown into a person with such a huge heart. That is only a reflection of the parenting and love they instilled upon me.
"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). I never want envy to form as a result from "sharing" my heart. Trust me, I've got a lot of love to give! :)
I love my parents so much, in fact, that when Ella was 6 months old, Aaron and I uprooted our little family from our townhouse in Beaverton, Oregon, to live in Turlock, California, where I grew up and where my parents live. I needed them to play a more active role in my life. I needed them to be more available to me, to be there for me as they had always proven to be. I will never regret moving down here because it gave me the opportunity to live near my parents during my adult life, where our relationship evolved from that of parent/child to friends.
As I've mentioned before in my post 30 Degrees or 30 Reasons to Move, Aaron and I are strongly considering moving back to Oregon. This strong consideration is becoming more real lately, especially due to Dan's cancer. However, this desire to move back to Oregon has nothing to do with my parents. In fact, even though the excitement of moving back to Oregon is empowering, moving away from my parents seriously breaks my heart. (I'm crying again! Goodness!).
It really does stink that no matter where we live, we will be apart from one set of parents, one set of Ella's grandparents. It's an awful feeling, but in no way is it "choosing" one over the other. It's simply choosing what we think is best for us and for Ella and our future family. We moved to Turlock thinking this place was going to serve that purpose. We had every intention of this being our indefinite home where our kids would grow up, just as I had. But after being here for 3-1/2 years, our impression of Turlock has changed and the clarity of moving back to Oregon has become clearer and stronger.
My parents are phenomenal people. They are selfless, helpful, funny, loud (they talk over each other and get louder and louder!), generous, opinionated (in a good way), strong-willed, and devoted Christians. I think perhaps I take for granted how great of parents I really do have, and I never want to come across that way. I know I'm lucky to have them, but I'd also like to think that they're lucky to have me too. :)
Love you, Mom and Dad! This post is dedicated to you guys. :)
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