Mom and dad celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary today. In sickness and in health, in many fights and the ensuing truce, they have stayed with each other and given us a cherished childhood. As my friends often say, “you are so lucky to have mom and dad spend all this time with you and help take care of your babies. ” Yes, indeed! I have been one among the lucky few that has had the luxury of having mom and dad close to me for most of the last decade. They have done for me more than anything I could have ever asked for and I wrote about it here & here…
What my kids are today and the values they have in them are a testimony of the love grandma & grandpa have showered on them. Loving & strict as the situation demanded, they have given the kids what some could only dream. Every word they speak in my mother tongue, every religious verse they recite & every bit of knowledge they have gained on our culture is thanks to hours of patient effort from grandpa & grandma. The kids are indeed fortunate and am sure will cherish every moment they have spent with grandpa and grandma. They still go to bed each day with the smell of their grandma lingering in the saree she left behind for them 
My career today is a gift they have bestowed upon me by taking care of my babies when I was working and attending school full-time. To let me do what I wished for, they have sacrificed their independence and happily nurtured my family way after I flew their nest. Thanks to their relentless effort, the OH & I have raised our kids unaware of the difficulties in raising them with a full-time job and a home to maintain. It is after all not too hard when the meals are cooked, the kids are bathed, fed, and entertained, the laundry is done by the time we are back from work.
On this special day, any words I say to them would not do justice to what they mean to us. I am sure they know in their heart how much they mean to us. My little sister has beautifully expressed our collective thoughts. Thanks sis for putting in words what each of us feel. In her own words…
Amma, Appa, we love you! Here’s wishing you many many more happy returns of the day!
