Role Models!

My parents and 2 youngest siblings are in Senegal right now visiting another younger sister Poe who has been there the past 17 months volunteering through PC. She lives in a village south of Kedougou in her own little hut with a PC family. She has 9-10 more months to go and will then be finished. My parents and siblings flew into Dakar to meet Poe and after a couple nights they traveled by bus to Kedougou and next they'll travel to Poe's village. My little sister has sent a couple emails updating us on the trip and it's been nice hearing about the trip. The most recent included a bus ride from Dakar to Kedougou that took them 17 hours. At one point the driver of the bus stopped at a garage and sat around with other men and talked/argued and Poe finally negotiated with him to drive them the rest of the way. He then opted to drop them off 2-3 miles from their hotel and they walked the rest of the way. Thankfully Poe has been there long enough to know how some of this works and is able to navigate pretty well. Anyway, they walked the remainder of the way and all is well. But while reading the email I couldn't help but think about how cool it is that my parents are there right now experiencing all of this. And most likely, they are probably handling it beautifully. Their main priority the past 36 years has been raising their 11 children. They raised us to be independent, strong, adventurous and sufficient. They've lived in the same home the past 33 years, sharing 2 bathrooms with 13 people. They are extremely frugal, very generous and 2 people that I look up to SO much. The first time they flew away together was when we sent them to Alaska for one of their anniversaries. Our family vacations included multiple camping trips (which we loved and cherish the memories to this day) and they set a fine example for us children. And reading the email this morning, while imagining my 2 parents trekking across Senegal with their 3 kids made me smile. Because it's just one more thing that they've handled with grace and strength. I realize there are people who accomplish this stuff every day but I'm still proud of them. Other than visiting another sister in London, they are in Africa for their 2nd international trip. I love it! And I'm so thankful for all they have taught me the past 30 years. Daily, they are still setting an example in my life and I'm so proud to be their daughter. Thank you!