Family Birthday

I'm supposed to be writing a letter to my father-in-law today.  He turned 75 on Saturday and as part of the celebration, everyone was asked to write him a little message that could be compiled in a book and given to him later in the year.  Truth be told, I was supposed to write the letter every single day for the past 3 months and now that I'm one day past the deadline, I'm having complete writer's block.  Naturally...

On Saturday all of my husband's nearby family gathered at their dad's house to help with the "yardwork."  That term being completely an understatement.  With a hodge-podge combination of chainsaws, hedge trimmers, hacksaws, chippers, brooms, rusty files, and when all else failed, pure strength of muscle, they attacked the forest of russian olive trees overtaking the backyard ravine and made a clearing in the front yard that turned up an actual sidewalk along with a set of newspaper route inserts stuffed in the overgrowth in 1993.  The project wasn't the brainchild of a considerate child or two, but the humble gift request from a father who has been lovingly cultivating a jungle to rival the Amazon for as many years as any of them can remember.  The second understatement would be to say there was much rejoicing...

The entire event was a sight to see.  My father-in-law raised an incredible family.  They know how to work together and enjoy each other's company.  Even on a blistering hot day with thorns puncturing thick-soled shoes and more scratches than if they'd survived a chicken fight, they were happy and joking and making the work seem easy.  The teenage grandkids were just equally as intense in fulfilling grandpa's birthday wish and the littlest ones were in heaven with the evolving backyard obstacles.

I try to never take for granted that I've been welcomed into such a focused and devoted family.  Of course there's drama and of course I have moments when I envy the families who live far away, but sometime in the past 75 years a man figured out the secret to being and raising people of good moral character and value and he deserves more recognition for that than he'll ever want to take.

Oh, that I could just use this as my letter....