What gift can you make to your parents?

My mother is 93 years old. Almost 94.

She’s remarkably spry for this season of her life. Her doctors always remark, “I hope I look like you if I get to 90!”

She needs a morning nap and an afternoon nap to keep herself going. And a walker for her balance.

Her pleasures are much different now than they used to be. She’s happy if I make her breakfast. She tells me I’m a good cook, although she’s still quick to point out if I used too much salt. We have a running joke in our family that the quantity of salt can make or break a meal at a restaurant—at least for my mom.

Sometimes if the weather is nice, the sun shining, the skies blue, and the wind not blowing too hard (she gets cold, you know, at 93) she’ll let me take her for a drive. She’s got to climb a flight of stairs and navigate down the garage steps. And then we’re off.

We went on the simplest of drives. Just a loop around Shawnee Mission Park, a drive around the lake. Even in the pre-spring bud, she found joy in the day. She loves the beauty of the sky or a hawk in flight.

We stopped and watched a model airplane enthusiast make practice landings. She wondered aloud whether he really knew what he was doing.

For her, it was enough to be out. A car ride. With her son.

It was my gift, even if the ride ended way too soon.

Photo by Eddie & Carolina Stigson on Unsplash

Bill High

Bill is CEO & Founder of Vyne Legacy. He works with families to equip them with tools to build multigenerational legacies, and he teaches givers and financial advisers on transformational biblical generosity. He is the co-author with David Green of Giving It All Away and Getting It All Back Again: The Way of Living Generously.

Published May 1, 2022

Topics: Family Legacy | Generosity

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