Stretching as far as the eyes can see, fields of soft blue cornflowers, dancing with myriad rows of corn and soybeans, fill the rolling plains and bring continuity, a connectedness, for the soul walking along the country road.  Trodding a path accented with Queen Anne’s lace, lilies, and lupins, the sojourner sees where he has come from and he see where he is going.  He has a profound sense of where he fits in — how he’s related to the other travelers, farms, and towns he encounters along the way.  The sweet, salty co-mingled fragrance of the blossoms, the pungent rich earth, and the beads of sweat invested in bringing it all together, when aged over a number of years, yield a divine elixir that is priceless.

Such is the tonic that your fifty years of marriage has produced.

Mom, you taught your children their heritage.  We have a deep sense of who we are and who preceded us.  You taught us fairness; you gave us space; and you taught us how to listen to the wind blow across the plains at night.  You taught us to be grateful for the earth’s bounty.  You taught us love as you read poetry and stories, firing our imaginations, stoking our creativity.  Ever the teacher, mentor, and counselor, you gave us open and curious minds and taught us how to make connections.

Dad, the tractor relentlessly plows row after row, joining hands with the rich soil to produce something useful.  You were up early every morning, not because that is what drove you, but because it was the right thing to do.  You toiled day in and day out, never complaining — in fact, always looking for opportunities to help another in need, quietly and anonymously.  Protector and defender of the family and the community, you were (and are) the role model, the example.  You gave us the tools to seek, explore, discover, and you showed us how to put to wise use all that we have been given.

Mom, you taught us to pray and develop that relationship with God; Dad, you led by example, showing us what it meant to put God first.

So different from each other you are, and yet I cannot picture the two of you apart.

Your common bonds became the core of your relationship: music, humor, mutual respect, and especially a deep unshakable faith in God.