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My parents recently celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary. After all these years, they still have a strong bond between them, and as such, their marriage serves as an example to me and to my sisters.

When we were younger, my parents taught us many valuable lessons to prepare us for our future adulthood. One of these I will never forget and I hope to instil this same value in my own children one day. They taught us that a marriage requires commitment, and that when the going gets tough, the tough should not consider going.

I fondly remember an analogy they once gave us of what the bond between a married couple should be like. They compared it to two pebbles lying next to one another in a stream. When violent storms are raging, the pebbles are tumbled about by the rushing waters. In this way more and more of the rough edges are smoothed away, until after many years, the smooth stones can snuggle together peacefully.

On their anniversary, I wanted to give them a gift basket in homage to the love still present between them. I decided to send them off on a picnic. Apart from a cheery picnic blanket, I packed the following into their basket:
A bottle of sparkling wine.
A few fresh apples and bananas.
Canned smoked mussels.
A packet of crackers.
A jar of olives.
Cheddar cheese.
A favorite South African delicacy, called biltong.
A box of liqueur chocolates for desert.
Two champagne glasses with their wedding date engraved on.

My parents will never know how much I appreciate the example of love and commitment that they have set, but it will be something that I will cherish for many years to come.

Thank you, Mom and Dad!