Sunday was my parent's 57th anniversary.   We had a great weekend with them.   Every chance I have to spend time with my parents highlights that I am extremely fortunate to have won the parent lottery.    Maybe it is my 55yo man emotions showing through, but... I get a lump in my throat frequently when we spend time with my parents.

We left the weekend up to them.  Mom wanted to attend an embroidery class on Saturday so my bride spent the day with her at that class.  It turned out to be two classes so they were doing all things embroidery from 9AM until 4PM.  They came in the house all laughing.  They enjoyed their day together.  

Dad and I investigated the venue for Saturday night dancing and had lunch there then picked up their RV to get it parked in the storage facility.  That was a chore.  It is not easy manuvering a 40Ft 5th wheel with a huge one ton long bed crew cab dually in a tight space.  It took us half an hour to get the 5th wheel in its covered slot.  The owners of the facility leased the open air slot immediately in front of my parent's covered slot.  That made things a challenge.

After we picked up the 5th wheel (it needed a new A/C unit and bearing and brake service) and got it back in storage dad put my new car through its paces.  I picked up my new to me car (2018 low miles Challenger R/T) on Thursday evening.  He liked the Hemi and the 6 speed manual transmission.  It got two thumbs up from dad.  While mom and dad were on their RV trip March-May they loaned us their Suburban.  I have had a company car in every job I have had since January 2005 (except for June-2010 through September 2011) so we only had one car when my role with my last company ended on March 1.  I have been shopping for a great deal on the right car for months.  Since I am still looking for my next role we chose the Challenger instead of the CTS-V.  I think I made the right choice.  And... saved a bunch of money.

Mom wanted to go dancing on Saturday night for their anniversary so that is what we did.  We went to an outdoor venue at one of their favorite restaurants, had dinner outside (while fighting an epic battle with horse flies Lol!).  Mom loves outdoors dining.  Not a great idea in the Texas late Spring fly season.  Once we finished eating the flies disappeared.  They know when to move to the next table. then danced until they closed.  

After dinner we danced until we closed the place down.  Watching my parents scoot boots with huge smiles on their faces is always a moving moment for me. 

Some of my earliest memories are of them dancing.  I was able to hide my leaky eye balls fairly well.  My bride noticed but mom and dad were having too much fun to see me appreciating them.  We had fun dancing as well.  But... our nearly 25 years of dancing together leaves us far short of the connection and magic my parent's 57 years of dancing together has created when they hit the dance floor.

On Sunday mom decided she wanted to stay home rather than go for brunch.  DW and I planned on taking them for a nice brunch on their actual anniversary.  Nope, mom wanted to cook dad's favorite breakfast so that is how we started the day.  My bride finished a quilting/embroidery project she has been working on intermittently for a year.  Mom was all happy about that.  She likes that someone in the family enjoys the things that mom loves to do.

Dad ran out in the AM to pick up her newspaper, coffee and a bale of roses and a nice card for mom.

After breakfast mom asked for the key for the Challenger and roared off for a test drive.  She enjoys performance cars and can drive a manual transmission with the best of them.   She came back an hour later with a big grin on her face.  The Hemi has the racer mom/GM seal of approval apparently.  No doubt her roaring around town drew some interresting looks.  A 74yo  white haired lady chirping the tires as she drove way too fast is not an overly common thing to see.   She has been talking about a new car for several months now and after driving the Challenger she told dad that is time for another muscle car.  Dad bought her a new Camaro for their 25th anniversary in 1987.  A red  Berlinetta with a 305 V-8.  She loved that car. But she did say a few times that she wished it was a manual.  On their 40th anniversary in 2002 dad surprised her with a white Camaro SS with a manual transmission.  He called me and asked me to find that car for her.  I found exactly what he asked for and hid it in my BFF's garage until their anniversary.  The whole family met at their favorite restaurant for dinner.  As we were all leaving after dinner dad handed her the keys and told her to go start their Suburban while he went to the restroom.  She was clueless.  When she went to unlock the Suburban the key didn't work but the white Camaro next to the Suburban unlocked. Dad had gone out the back door and was standing behind her watching her figure it out.  She loved those cars.  

So, #57 for them was low key.  Once again they stole their eldest son's heart.  They stole my wife's heart yet again as well.

DW and I will have our 25th in a little more than 7 weeks.  My little brother and his bride will celebrate their 26th in October.

Mom and dad are doing it right and their boys and their brides are trying their best to do the same.

Happy anniversary mom and dad.  I love you more than words can express.