It's A Family Affair

With a lot of help from the family, we celebrated my parents’ 40^th wedding anniversary last Sunday afternoon. I’ve texted those who showed up my gratitude for coming together on short notice since I was unsure of my own work schedule; as a result, I chose to limit the celebration to in-state relatives. You know, most people can reach Conway within three hours from almost any direction including my own forty-five drive from Bryant. If anyone took pictures, please feel free to share them in the comments section as I recollect moments from a few days (or decades) ago:

1.     God has definitely kept Dad and Mom together through thick and thin.

2.     Without them, I wouldn’t have turned out the way I am today (I was inside Mama’s tummy when they had gotten married back in ‘78).

3.     Next July will also mark them living in Friendship forty years in the little house (once white, now yellow) in the curve. For the first eighteen years, it was the only place I knew as home – and that 882 sq. ft. space contained more life lessons, memories, Star Trek marathons, etc. than many of you would ever know.

4.     Depending on the sport, Mom or Dad would serve as de facto referees in backyard basketball or football; when we were younger, they would get out in the driveway for foot races. No comment on who walked who down during the era of the elementary school track meets.

5.      Glad Alan threw down some burgers and green beans on the grill. Saline County knows about my work but my brother is not one to be slept on.

6.     When strapping down all equipment, it is best to put the loose stuff – including aluminum trays – in the vehicle: I now have to buy a aluminum table for my PK Classic grill.

7.     Huge shout out to Chastity for cooking most of the sides and picking up the drinks. Otherwise, we’d all be lined up at the garden hose drinking water if not fighting over pot liquor again.

8.     Reneging in spades is a felony punishable by banishment from the table.

9.     That being said, never trust Leah when she says “I got a couple” of books.

10.                        Peach cobbler and or Jaimie’s cheesecake could very well prevent wars – neither of which came from the box.

11.                        With hungry eyes in the living room and wife on the way back from the store, Deacon Armstrong had to pray to the point.

12.                        Speaking of #11, thanks to our Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church family of Benton for understanding the greater need to celebrate black love over another church anniversary. Our cookout was awesome – and we cooked the right amount of food for everyone!

13.                        For probably the same reason no one recognized the Dub Shack work truck (my Ram), it was strange seeing Uncle Kent pull up in something domestic.

14.                        I wish Ryan aka Boogie and Caeli had other kids to play with for more than an hour.

15.                        For once, Dad was catered to instead of running from pit to house. 

16.                        There was a sighting of Nacole! I tried to send some Dub Shack BBQ back with her but she was too stuffed to even try the product. However, we have an open invitation to seeing Tampa one of these days – and since Disney World in Orlando is roughly ninety minutes away, it could very well happen. After all, she is 1) the girl next door and 2) eleven weeks younger than me. Nevertheless, it was good seeing my childhood friend.

17.                        24 lbs. of pulled pork went away quickly!

18.                        BBQ Becky would’ve been sick seeing us.

19.                        The sleep fairy is still undefeated as evidenced by the people who fell asleep on the couch and in chairs.

20.                        Dad and Mom have been the crash pad for traveling family members – the ones from Kansas and even for a pair of UCA undergraduates.

21.                        From their union came my brother and me; now we have our own families to shepherd in addition to two grandchildren to adore in Aston and Caeli.

22.                        No one fought over the greens’ pot liquor this time.

23.                        You weren’t pitting them against one another as some children do (or try to) with their parents.

24.                        In all of her irreverence, aunt Ann is as blunt as ever.

25.                        Once again, relatives got lost in town; hey, this is par for the course when coming to Conway. Remember I got lost coming home for the class reunion last year and although it is easier to manage each trip, Exit 124 is still a new phenomenon.

26.                        The aforementioned exit also cuts my travel time from house to interstate down to 1 ½ miles:  the half-mile to Friendship Road, and the other mile to the house: Popeyes Chicken has officially become a special trip to town.

27.                        The family that prays and plays together stays together.

28.                        THOSE EPIC KICKBALL GAMES.

29.                        One downside of being in the same place for so long is seeing the gentrification of my ‘hood. In 1979, the roads were dirt; today, all is paved (has been since the 80s – Judge Carter made certain of that) and there is now a wedding chapel tucked away from what was once a dumping grounds. If the city tries to annex, then I’m done.

30.                        On their refrigerator is the same scripture that I now try to live by at home:  Joshua 24:15. If you don’t know it, read the italicized text. Choose ye this whom ye will serve but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

All in all, what a grand time indeed! It’s not every day couples make it to forty years of marriage, so giving Dad and Mom their flowers while they can smell them is the least we can do. Thanks to everyone who came out for the cookout!