It's Christmas Eve 2007. My family just exchanged gifts- an annual Decenber 24th tradition. My sister, Bonnie gave Dad a Dolly Parton Greatest Hits album: one of the few things he requested. Bonnie just took my niece, Grace to take her evening bath. I dropped off gifts in my bedroom upstairs.
As I walked back down the stairs, I could hear Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" drifting softly from the dimly-lit living room. I saw my parents, dancing slowly and very closely, to the music. They were oblivious to any other presence in the room and were completely focused on one another. It was devastatingly romantic.
After 35 years of marriage, children, and grandchildren, those two have been through many ups and downs together. For them to still be able to steal away a tiny moment amidst a busy Christmas Eve for one tremendously meaningful slow dance gives me hope for true love. I have just seen it.
Merry Christmas.
