My parents celebrate their 50th anniversary later this week, but we celebrated the golden event with a party for extended family this past weekend. We had fun, and most of us ate too much barbecue and banana pudding.

Despite my parents’ request for “no gifts,” we all chipped in for one very special art piece to give them – a family tree with paper leaves signed by as many family members as we could track down:

The anniversary celebration – and the family tree gift – reminded me how blessed I am. You see, I’m adopted. So my family tree could have looked completely different.  Continue reading →