My parents celebrated their semicentennial anniversary last weekend. What a cause for celebration! All my siblings, and two of the spouses, flew down from their far-flung homes around the nation. Here we are (with no young children in sight!) enjoying a wonderful celebratory meal together. (Thanks, Dad!)

If you’d like to read a little more about their early years as a couple, my dad has a couple of romantic posts on his own blogs: Blank Slate  and Blank Canvas. He’s collected a lot of fantastic old photos from their lives before children, many moments they had completely forgotten about until the photos were found. Another reason to document our lives, even when we are busy.

Sunday afternoon, there was a lovely party with some of their close friends—and us kids. Among other things, my mom made Italian Creme cake from a recipe that was used at three of her daughter’s weddings. (Including mine!) It’s the best cake ever.

I am hugely privileged, I know, to have been born to such a committed family. I admire and respect the way my parents have loved each other for so long, adventuring through the world with lots of kids in tow (there are now 10 adult children and 16 grandkids.) As the eldest child, I have seen them go through numerous (often dramatic) seasons of change together and only become stronger for them.  Children do look to their parents for example, and l know firsthand this is a possible way to live. They have always been supportive and intentional with their kids as well as each other. I’m experiencing more fruit of that now that my own siblings are helping me pay my rent each month. They just decided it was the right thing to do. I say its incredibly humbling.

Life has thrown some serious challenges my way these past two years, but I can’t stop finding things to be grateful for. This one is always right on top, though. To have been born to such amazing parents (and to be the sister of amazing siblings) is far beyond what I deserve. I just got blessed, I guess.

Happy 50th, Mom and Dad!