37 Years Of Teamwork

Let me tell y'all about two of the strongest people in my life. They deserve more recognition than I could ever give them, but I feel the need to give them credit on this platform that has been created for me so everyone else can know just how much they mean to me. To everyone else they are known as Kim, Kimberle', David, or Commander. Luckily I get to call them Momma and Daddy. They are two of the bravest people I know in their own individual ways and I hope I turn out to be half the people they are.

To give you a little backstory, my Mom is from Michigan and my Dad is from North Carolina and they met at college in Virginia where my Dad played football and my Mom was a cheerleader. They actually met the first day my mom moved to campus and my grandparents asked him for directions. They dated for a few months, broke up for 2 whole years, he asked 2 years later if she cut hair (he knew she did😉,) they got back together and married in a blizzard in Michigan in 1980. Two years amazes me! God had it in His plans to bring them back together even if it did take them so many years to find their way back to each other. My Mom was still in college when they got married so my Dad would stay in North Carolina during the week to work on the farm and he would drive back to school on the weekends to be with my Mom for their first year of marriage. Talk about dedication, right? After she graduated she moved to the middle of nowhere to live on a Dairy farm with him and the rest of his family, they had my sister and I and the rest should be in written into a book.

I wish I could repay them by giving them the world, but I feel like it still wouldn't be enough. I am fully aware how lucky my sister and I were and still to this day to have grown up in a home where you were hugged, kissed, and told that you were loved every single day. I know not everyone grew up with something as simple as that.

In 1996 my Dad took a job that required him to walk in to burning buildings when everyone else was running out. It was a huge adjustment for my family. My Dad has worked the same schedule for 20 years being gone for 24 hours at a time. He sacrifices for his family and has to miss birthdays, sports games when we were younger, holidays, and many other days in between. I will never forget the Christmas he surprised Maegan and I at home. I was 9 and Maegan was 14. We were both upset that he couldn't be thereto watch us open presents. There was a knock on the door of my Grammie's house and it was my Dad. We both leaped into his arms. It is one of my most memorable Christmas'. He hates being away as much as we do, but He did and continues to do it so our lives could be better. He can only do it because he has someone at home who is strong enough to take care of the household when he isn't there.

My Mom had to be strong and continues to be even though my sister and I have flown the coop when my Dad isn't there. She had no other choice than to be strong. I know many people whose significant others work a long shift whether it be 12 or 24 and in my opinion it takes a strong, confident person to do it. My Mom knew how important it was to keep our lives as normal as possible when my Dad wasn't there. I knew it was harder especially when she had to make sure we got to places on time and do it by herself. I would be so bummed if he couldn't make it to a game, but there would be my Momma cheering me on as loud as she could.

They are the epitomy of what a team is. I can not be more blessed to be their daughter. Nobody has a perfect marriage, but they showed me how much of a team you have to be to make it work. Their love for each other is so unbelievably strong even after 37 years! They are best friends and my parents.