The desk in my home office is covered with photos, most of them of my family. The biggest one is a portrait of my mom and dad, which sits directly above and in front of me. They were reasonably young in this rendering, like 50-ish. This is how I remember them. Not old and gray and feeble as they became before passing on.
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Clearly, it’s a professional photograph. Mom is in the foreground, wearing a brown and grey-striped blouse with a bow at the neckline. Dad is behind, looking over her right shoulder, dressed in a navy blue suit and tie and light gray shirt. Both are smiling warmly as they look to their left, slightly off-camera. They look so happy, so connected, so much in love.
Lessons learned
I learned so much from them. They explained to me how to deal with disappointment, how to drive a car, how to handle money, stuff like that. But they didn’t have to teach me love. I saw it every day; I knew what it looked like. I never saw two people more in love with each other than Mom and Dad. I never saw them fight.
Oh, there were differences of opinion certainly, but getting mad at each other never seemed to be an option. They cared way too much about each other’s feelings. I used to catch them glancing at each other, sheer adoration in their eyes, even after many years.
A verse in Psalm 17 says, “Children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.” We usually think in terms of children being a source of pride for their parents, but perhaps the opposite is even more important. As a child grows into adulthood, he or she should be able to feel admiration, gratitude, and yes, even pride, for not only what their parents taught them, but what was modeled for them.
Because of what I observed from my folks, I knew what kind of relationship to seek when it came to finding my own spouse. By the grace of God, I found such a relationship. There is nothing more valuable to pass down to our children and grandchildren than how to love.
But true love is not so much something you teach as something you live.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Ken Lass is a retired Birmingham television news and sports anchor and an award-winning columnist for numerous publications and websites.
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