Treats & Doll-Houses.

My parents live the little things better than anyone I know. 

Today they celebrate 30 years of marriage. I would like to honor them by mentioning some of those little things that have inspired me for 29 of their 30 years. I wasn’t here for the first one. I’m sure it was great. 

Mum and Dad dangled “treats” in front of us. It was sweet. What I mean is, they made lots of little things have special meaning because they were treats. For example, treat cereal. If you grew up on brand name Mini Wheats and Fruit Loops, I’m sorry. You just won’t appreciate this. My parents saved those things for special days like our birthdays. Or holidays. OR the rare occasion for no reason. Treats. Love ‘em to this day. In any form.

My parents made holidays fun for us by putting little things in place. Things like 4 different colored fluorescent hats, one for each of us. Just kidding. Those were corny. But they did do cool stuff like take us camping and encourage a different board game each summer. (Those who know me know that stuck). And they played with us. They also made craft kits for each of us for long road trips in the backward-facing puke-inducing red paneled station wagon. Who needs Fisher Price when you have Ruth and Marty. 

My parents preserve traditions around the little things. For example. For the last few years, Ry and I have not been able to be home for actual Christmas. But Dad gets this glint in his eye at 11 o’clock at night at least once during every visit: “You guys wanna do a sparkle tour?” The tradition is, we get hot drinks and drive around the city in the back of Dad’s big empty van listening to Christmas carols and looking at lights. There were no lights in August really. But it doesn’t matter. Great little tradition. (And we can’t really see from the floor of the van anyways). 

Mum and Dad raised us on home-made stuff. Love it. I saw a plastic canvas Christmas ornament today and was so delighted. Even if none of the rest of you know what plastic canvas is, my mum and sisters do. For sure. And I am so thankful for that. We learned how to make home-made cards… and rug-hook… and knit… and blow up pictures on an overhead projector… and paint nativity scene characters… because my parents took the time to invest the little things in us. No matter how busy I get, I still crave craft days. 

Mum and Dad still employ their home-made-making skills in their gift-giving. Last year, when Ry and I were in BC for Christmas, a very large package arrived at our door. I couldn’t believe it when I opened a doll house: hand-made; hand-painted; hand-wallpapered; hand-cardboard-furniture-built; hand pictures-hung-on-the-wall. Amazing. You see, when I was a kid, Dad had built us a big Barbie house, the sweetest thing ever. We haven’t been able to track it down recently, but they knew how much it meant to me. So, they took the time to build me one when I was 28 years old. 

I could go on and on… so here’s a final list to wrap things up, a “montage” of little things, if you will:
Stuffing every care package with fruit-to-go’s…
Sending home-made cards…
Constantly serving us when we come home…
Numerous boat trips at the lake…
Card games and board games…
“Slipping in” plane tickets and calling them  birthday gifts… and then also giving birthday gifts…
Painting a sign that says “Hoopy 16^th Birthday Deborah”…
Cheering at every high school basketball game… and even some college games…
Hosting Ry’s TWU team…
Smitty’s breakfasts…
Paper Umbrella cards and notebooks…
Encouraging Road to Avonlea in Sunday night CBC Family Hour…

For these and many more… thank you for mastering and modeling the art of the little things.

Happy Anniversary!