My Dad works at Ford and my Mom and I both work at North Star in Talbotville. For two weeks while my Dad is on dayshift, he drops me off at work on his way. Then for two weeks I get a ride with my Mom. Most of the time this ride sharing business isn’t really necessary, but I do it because I like them so much! (That’s right, on top of loving them, I LIKE them too!) And also because it means that Mrs. Zimbo isn’t stuck at home with Madeleine and Olivia all day without the van.
Around Christmas a couple of years ago we were sitting around at Mom and Dad’s and out of the blue my Dad says “Son, do you think I should get a Playstation or an X-Box or something?” He kind of woke me up from a couch nap with this question so I didn’t really respond the first time. When he asked the second time, I was awake, and you can guess what my response was: “Let’s roll!” So off we went to Zellers, and we came back with an X-Box, 4 games, and a 36″ flatscreen TV.
My Dad is in his early 50′s and was a pastor for 13 years until about 7 years ago (prior to that he worked at Ford for 17 years.) We never had much money as a family; my Mom stayed home to raise us while Dad was working, and then when they became Pastor(s), the pay was pretty lousy. So now they are finally having a little money to enjoy.
Regardless of which one I ride with, on Friday’s they always show up with a Tim’s Regular and a blueberry bran muffin (“buttered and THEN heated, please!”) for me. My Mom showed up one Wednesday with that same order. I had already eaten breakfast and I had my usual Green Tea (Tetley Lemon and Ginseng Green Tea with a teaspoon of Honey) in my hand. My Mom said “Sorry, I forgot to tell you: I think we should start having Tim Hortons on Wednesdays AND Fridays.”
“Ok Mom, I won’t argue with you.” I said.
My parents, as I’ve mentioned before, have been so great to me all my life. They rarely raised their voices at me, never hit me, never belittled me, and when I got a little older they let me make up my own mind about things and gave all the guidance I ever asked for. Now as I travel through my 30′s, I am just in love with them more than ever. I hope my kids feel that way about me when they are 30.
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Michael Krahn
www.michaelkrahn.com
