The very best kind!!  We have two sets of the best.  Loving and wise people who don’t blink at the idea of flying to weird parts of the world, and driving around to see odd things that nobody else is interested in.  Disneyland?  Europe?  No.  How about the Stalin Museum?  Or the Livadia Palace to see the signing of the treaty that ended WWII? Or the Charge of the Light Brigade?  (see http://www.madgow.com, July 2010).

Remember all the salted pig fat we thought was garlic butter?  These grandparents are real troopers!!

Because all the glamour of the Foreign Service aside, Mike and I are not very glamorous people.  We live our regular life, doing regular things, and none of it would be possible without the support of our parents.  When Oma and Opa and Mimi and Dede are around, they help us make sure that Eli and Jake are having the most normal, loving childhood possible.  And they also continue to unfailingly keep loving their two grown children, who still need them!  Every day.

To bake cookies:

To go out to dinner:

To make gingerbread houses even though the season is over:

To do “shoulders” with our friends after a Georgian feast out on the town:

To remind us that it is always worth it to make a birthday cake, even when it’s a month later, as long as it’s your favorite kind:

To show us how to fix things around the house:

To let Jake teach us a dance in the kitchen:

To remind us that one is never too old for a new adventure, or for another sunset.

I’m not sure what we did to deserve the love that we get, but we know that our life would not be possible if not for our parents.  They are still teaching us, every day, about what it means to live a life of meaning.  The meaning is actually very simple.

Thank you, Oma and Opa.  Thank you, Mimi and Dede.  And to our brothers and sisters too.  We couldn’t do it without you!!