Giana and I spent some time in Iowa this past week. Seeing her in the place where I grew up got me reflecting on my childhood. We have been getting hospital bills and I have a new appreciation about the expense it will take to raise a child. When I grew up, we certainly weren’t at the top of the tax brackets, and I now realize that my parents must have made a lot of sacrifices to give us kids all the things they did. I do have a notoriously bad memory, but I do remember some things about the richness of my childhood…

• We were always warm and happy in a big, beautiful house that we learned to take pride in by helping clean and care for it.
• We had a mom to come home to every day after school and we had a dad who worked hard to provide for us all.
• We always had warm, nutritious meals (prepared with love) and got introduced to a wide variety of foods.
• We went to the doctor whenever we needed to and even had our teeth fixed with braces.
• We always had good, clean, reliable (and non-embarrassing – no station wagon!) transportation to take us everywhere we needed to go.
• We had parties every year for our birthdays and thoughtful gifts at every holiday.
• We got to participate in every school party, field trip, athletic event and any extra event that we wanted to.
• We were never alone at those events because mom, dad and an assortment of grandparents were always there watching us, cheering for us and videotaping us.
• We got to take lessons in whatever interested us, including piano and dance, and we were involved in every parks and rec thing we wanted.
• We had new clothes and a full backpack of supplies at the start of every school year.
• We didn’t need cable TV because we had so much more fun playing with all our toys and outside with each other.
• We are the only kids I know that had a roller skating rink and a hot tub in their basement!
• We were one of the first families to have a computer and we had access to that Commodore 64 before our peers.
• We had pets to love and care for – fish and a guinea pig – until mom outgrew her “allergy.”
• We even had beautiful wood toys, like a Barbie dream house and a kitchen set, made by dad, that we loved and have lasted longer than anything store-bought.
• We had swimming pool passes and were on the go all summer long, and got to be treated with snacks.
• We got to ride on lots of big toys – motorcycle, snowmobile, golf carts, boats and jet skis – first with the adults, and later we were trusted to drive on our own.
• We supported an amazing church and that family supported us, helping us learn and grow through Olympics, Sunday School, VBS, and all sorts of other events.
• We went to camps (and more camps) every summer that expanded our horizons but made us love home even more.
• We were road warriors, always traveling on fun family vacations, visits with family, trips to the Lake, camping trips and treks to Waterloo for shopping and lunches.
• We always had more than enough to share with others and we often had friends and family join our dinner table.
• We had a dad and mom who gave us anything we wanted so cheerfully, never showing us the sacrifices they made – only showing us love.