It's the little things

My my but it's been along time since I've had the time to sit down and actually post something! But I have been thinking, and reflecting back on something that happened a while back. The family was together celebrating Father's day, and somehow the subject came up of the husbands and wives and how one would fair without the other. My mom and dad got misty eyed and declared that they would prefer to "go together" because neither of them had a clue as to how they would get by without the other. It was quite an emotional moment, one that I had to put a stop to with the declaration that it was time for cake, before I found myself balling my head off. It made me think of another time, back in 2008. My mom had suffered two heart attacks and was in the hospital in intensive cardiac care for almost a month. The family more or less took shifts, different ones of us showing up at different times through the day, but my dad was there every day from the moment he got up until the nurses kindly kicked him out and told him to go home and get some much needed sleep. There was one day, when I was there, but in the waiting room feeding my 3 week old daughter, that Jeopardy came on. Jeopardy is one of my mom and dad's favorite shows. They love the intellectual challenge and like learning new things. So, I went to get my dad out of mom's room to watch, thinking it would lift his spirits. My dad stood there and watched a while and I said "Aren't you glad I came to get you, Dad, so you could see your show?" He looked at me, and I saw tears streaming down his face, and he said "It's just not the same without her." Understand, my dad is not an emotional kind of guy, and I don't believe I'd ever seen him cry before. It broke my heart. It also made me realize the deep, abiding connection that existed between this man and woman who had spent the last fifty plus years together, living life side by side day in and day out. I realized then and there that it's the little things that matter most. The daily interactions that we often don't even notice that build a lasting connection. Thankfully, mom and dad are still watching Jeopardy together, and all the other little things that go to make up a life.