Our parents are such a ‘Huge Chapter’ in our personal ‘Book of Life’! To so many, they are that one constant that stands tall when perhaps nothing else will.  Most parents or parent may have always been there for most of us when no one else was, and may have been the mold by which most of us have been shaped!  As their short-term memories start to get a little cloudy from day to day, their long-term memories seem to stay very clear and sharp, recalling the days of yesteryear (again and again) and especially times that bring happy thoughts and special memories of us growing up with Mom and Dad.

There is a time for us as well where we can ‘flashback’ our thoughts quickly, to hopefully a happy place in our past, a time that not only represents a kinder and simpler time. There were the times when most things seemed simpler by one or both caring and firm parents. We always didn’t understand the ‘whys’, but so many times, as we grew older, it finally became clear, that the values we were taught really did shape our future, even though we didn’t agree then! We can easily remember the taste of Mom’s home cooking, especially at the Holidays, doing things we really hated then (and maybe still do), nagged about doing our homework, being told to show respect for our elders, going to church, and ‘spring break’ was a day off from school, and maybe Monday, and not a trip to Disney or the beach!

It also seems like only yesterday, when my Dad came to live with us after my Mom was suddenly and much too prematurely ‘called home’.  Taking your parents or a parent to live with you considered normal in my neck of the woods. We just did it automatically and in most cases, the kids felt that it was a privilege and we would make do with whatever came our way.

Times haven’t changed a lot for many of us either.  We still hold many of the same values for those who raised us and were there for us for so long. But even though we may feel privileged to ‘honor our father or mother, or both,’ those thoughts that fill our hearts and feed our spirits, also carry with them many changes of lifestyle, elevations of stress levels and direct reflections on our existing lives and relationships.

Even though we may consider ‘parental care giving’ to be a labor of love, there are a lot of changes and decisions that will occur in our daily lives, for ourselves and for our spouses and families of our own! There will be some changes that are very simple to adjust to, but there are other circumstances that happen or will arise in the future, that will reach down to your very core, and to those closest to you that will require more strength and answers that you may not have anticipated! Some of the areas may include increased demands on availability of time, dietary and health related issues, possible critical care at home, changing financial circumstances, behavioral and communicable concerns, and many others.

For the kids with a parent or parents who may need or are receiving care from an assisted living or full-time care facility, there are also many of the needs mentioned as well as additional circumstances, now and in the future to consider.  We then begin then to learn ourselves, not only about care giving, but also what many of our parents went through in raising and caring for us during our early and sometimes long-term lives!

There may be additional stresses, issues, problems and weighty circumstances upon our day to day lives as well as with our children, jobs and general lifestyles…….but know and consider the major God given values our parents may have given to us over our bumps and possible bruises that make up our personal ‘Book of Life’! Our parents spent so many years giving to us values, many of them possibly with the love of Jesus Christ!

Always remember, that they were our first "Teachers”, whether we agreed or not! They may have taught, or tried to teach us about love, caring, giving to others in need, how to forgive, how to accept and most of all, they may have been our backbone of support!

They also gave us wisdom and "tried very hard” despite our stubbornness, to many times try and ease our pain through life’s troubled times.  They had come so far and learned through the ‘school of hard knocks!  We all could have been possibly smarter sooner!”

Our parents or parent may have either acquired, learned the hard way, created or have been brought up hopefully with a set of morals, value systems and principles in life and they believed in them. We may not have believed many of them, but we may now want to consider their impact on us.

Our parents may have worked their butts off for us youngsters or maybe not!  But they may have also sacrificed a lot, to try their best to give us many things that they never had!

 Perhaps most of all, as our parent or parent’s years on earth wain, all they may want is so very little from us!  I personally remember a 21-year-old soldier son, headed to Operation Desert Storm, turning and hugging me in the airport and telling me "Thanks Dad for all you have done in raising me” ……and that has been ‘one of my greatest rewards’