An Ode to my parents......

So I feel that Covid is finishing its run with me......we are at a week.....and I feel better each day, just tired mostly, and still a little congestion.....hoping that starts to go as well. I feel enormously grateful for how it came to visit us and how kind it was to us. I really don't have adequate words for that.......Gabe is back to normal and I am getting there, and that is all one can hope for in this world at the moment......I would be remiss if I did not mention my parents in all of this.....they are my biggest support out there when the rubber hits the road, and I know that this was challenging for them as well......I know that this has been a worry for them and that understanding my decisions around Covid have been hard for them to understand.....my conviction and instinct that the vaccine wasn't for us at this time, and my decision to put other proactive measures in place instead, and their having to let that go.....and do their best not to worry so much.......parenting an adult I am certain is not easy.....and trusting them when you don't agree or feel the same.....and I have appreciated how difficult this has been for them.....the journey I have been on for the past year has been a really strong one......wrought with clear and strong decisions and understanding.....and they have been watching from the front row with their support there for me.......and I know it isn't always easy.....and I am certain it has required stretching themselves and accepting things too along the way......the beautiful thing when people grow, is that we all grow, and the people who love us get to grow too......I cannot imagine this past year without them in it......their support and love has been paramount to me......they could not do the work for me....take the pain away from me.......but they could create a place surrounding me to allow me the space and time to do what it is I have needed.....while fiercely loving me all along the way.....can't really ask for more than that........I could not have done all the things I have without them......and I am grateful for the faith they have in me.....and the understanding they have that I am on my own journey and what I need most from them is their support and understanding of that, even if what is right for me, is not right for them.......that is the magic of parenting right? Of showing up with your love over and over and offering it freely without strings......and allowing your children to fly where they need to.......I am so very grateful to the both of them for being such support and cheerleaders for me as I have walked this road.....I have known every step they are right there if I need them, and for whatever I need......and for my children......they are huge fans of them as well......their favorite two people.....:) I would be hard pressed in this life to ever find two other people that love me as much as my mom and dad and are as supportive as they are, and I know that very clearly, not taking that for granted, and am so very grateful for that each and every day:)