so much bigger.

My parents have been gone for a couple days now.

But their fingerprints are everywhere…in the form of a fixed vacuum and a stockpile of paper towels.

The kids beds have new basketball pillows and Gabe’s baseball light was finally installed properly.

Reflecting a bit on them.

My parents used to say, “We love you and would die for you. But we do not live for you. We live for something beyond you.”

And it’s true.

And I love that about them.

I think all four of us would say that we never ever doubted that our parents love us. Or that they were insanely proud of us. (Well…sometimes Joanna is the favorite. She’s also the nicest. So I guess it’s only right… ). We know and have seen them do anything–anything to be there for us, to support us, to encourage us.

But we also know that they do not live for us. How they spend their lives and their time and their resources is beyond us as their kids. It’s so much bigger. So much better.

And I guess I’m just thankful for that. It is not the easiest way, most comfortable way. I get that now.

As parents ourselves now, we want our kids to understand the same. Our family is part of a much bigger story. We love you. We are proud of you. We would die for you. We do not live for you.