Speaking of the “ripple effects” of grandparenting and parenting (yesterday), Dave’s dad (who’s birthday it is today…happy birthday Papa!!) has given he and his siblings the gift of beautiful skiing.

Now, I’m not talking about the get-down-the-mountain type of skiing.

No.

They way Dave’s family skis is almost like a dance in my opinion.

I love to think about the sacrifice this took, this talent he passed down to his children.

I mean, they lived in the desert growing up. And I don’t know about you, but to me it is hard enough to outfit kids in ski gear, deal with the whining and frankenstein-walking and lost gloves and mid-day-red-faced-hungry-complainers, let alone transporting a whole gaggle of kids from the desert to the snow in order to bring on all that commotion.

But he did it. With his wife, no doubt, supporting on the sidelines.

Over and over and over again.

Something about that makes me tear up.

The work of parenthood.

The work of building something for your children that you may or may not see the results of in the future.

It makes me so happy that he does get to see the results of his labors. As that gift has rippled out to the grandchildren over the years.

And I love that back in February six of the nine siblings got to meet up to ski together.

I like to picture in my minds eye how it must have felt to watch that cascade of beautiful skiers coming down the mountain together.

I hope he stopped long enough to let that infiltrate into his bones: this legacy he began.

And that it was worth all the complaining and shuffling and traveling and sore knees and sacrifice to make it happen.

I love to think of that beautiful skiing as a representation of all the priceless things he has given his children.

And his grandchildren.

And their children after that.

Things they are still discovering to help them move through their every-day.

I mean, skiing is one thing. And it is grand. But deeper he has given them love. And non-judgement. And a connection to God. Things that are so deep and wide that they can change trajectories.

The work of a parent just keeps rippling.

Makes me think of my own rippling.

What gifts am I giving my children?

All those little things can really, some day, become the big things.

Similar Posts

6 Comments

  1. This is a levy tribute to your FIL. I love when families do things together, especially grownup families who still love being together.

    Just curious, and obviously you don’t have to answer. Where is Dave in the birth order? You’re second oldest…where does he fall? Just curious, so no worries if he wants that let private. Just a long time blog reader and have wondered.

    Blessings! 💕

    1. I am not a native speaker and I thought to myself: “What does she mean? I need to look it up.” 😀

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *