


By the way, get this....Ralph says he hardly has any clothes. He likes to keep the same thing and wear it again and again, making it truly vintage, very worn, and truly "his own." Who knew that Ralph is more like our husbands then we realized? He says he doesn't have much closet space either because my wife has it all! Now they really sound like the typical married couple don't they?

Can you imagine the mansion they lived in? And they shared a room? I LOVE that! And they don't get their clothing for free either. Ralph exclaimed "it's a public company, they get a discount, but not for free!" Ricky says they learned most of their parenting skills from their own mothers and fathers. "They were good people, they worked hard, they had values that we learned from them." Ralph also mentioned that he and his wife made sure to spend as much time as they could with their children. "When we went away, the kids were with us," he says. When they were children, David says his parents were always there when they got home from school and when it was time for dinner. "It was never said about us, 'their parents are out at some big function.' We really felt like it was a family, and that was the priority—to be together."
"It's never one memory,
it's the life we live together."

They started speaking of Dylan's soon approaching wedding day and the dress that, of course, her Dad will be making. With tears in his eyes and a quiver in his chin, "this is the most important dress I'll ever make." "I'm not giving her away, we're taking him!" said her Mother. Watch Ralph and Dylan talk about her wedding dress.
Andrew, David and Dylan say their parents always encouraged them to pursue their passions. "There was never any pressure to do anything or be anything more than what we felt comfortable with," David says. "Whether it was with our homework or with our jobs, it was always a feeling of 'Just be happy.'"

For some, it's just you and your husband, newlyweds living in your first little apartment, with barely enough cabinet space for all your wedding presents. For others, it's just a Mother and her children around the table, no Daddy in the picture, but LOVE is not missing.
Or, like ours, it's a table full of "sit down", "chew with your mouth closed", "don't say poopy at the kitchen table!"
Maybe it's all quiet for you and you only hear the tick-tick-ticking of that fifty-two year old clock resting on your mantle surrounded by beloved photos of a life well-lived and well-loved.
Whatever it looks like, the bottom line is IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU. Those that walk beside you and live life with you, (whether it's your family by blood or by choice). We were made for community and I believe we function at our highest potential when we are with others, for others!

And I pondered what I just watched, how they, in that moment, were choosing to maintain a spirit of simplicity in spite of their wealth. It doesn't matter if you have what people perceive as the "perfect" family. It matters that you CARE about those that are placed in your family. Those sitting in the chairs around YOUR kitchen table.
"What I do is about living. It's about living the best life you
can and enjoying the fullness of the life around you~
from what you wear, to the way you live,
to the way you love."
RL