Today's my mom and dad's 40th wedding anniversary. 40 years...wow! My sister came up with this amazing idea of getting them 40 roses, each with a message of why we're so thankful to them. Some are more generic like we're thankful that you taught us right from wrong and some are specific like thank you for a fantastic trip to Disneyland, etc. So I asked my sister to snap a photo for me so that I could keep the memory. Here's the photo. And here are all the translated reasons (the originals are in Turkish).

For being our mom and dad
Daddy, for always being a kid with us
Mommy, for never putting up with our acting spoiled
For accepting your son-in-laws as if they were your own kids
For always giving love without expecting it in return
Daddy, for being the most fun grandfather
Mommy, for always showing us the cup's half full side
For putting us first in your life
For raising us with the right values
Daddy, for putting on unforgettable parties for us
Mommy, for teaching us to be thankful every day
For always managing to stay young at heart
Daddy, for explaining us the values of our roots
Mommy, for always putting up with us
Mommy, for teaching us not to worry about penny-accounting
Daddy, for teaching us to never hurt anyone
Daddy, for staying with us with love each time we got sick
For being the best grandmother
Mommy, for teaching us to save money
Daddy, for quitting smoking even though it was incredibly difficult for you
Daddy, for never hurting our feelings
Mommy, for your creativity and always being an example to us
Mommy, for being near us under every condition as we became mothers
Daddy, for watching movies with us for hours when we were little and translating every word
Daddy, for teaching us math with games
For always urging us to do anything we wanted in life
For always sharing every topic we were interested in
Mommy, for warning us that true friendship is rare and hard to find
Daddy, for taking the time to save our memories
For an unbelieavable and unforgettable Disney World trip
For teaching us honesty and integrity
Mommy, for teaching us the importance of standing on our own two feet
For getting remarried (to each other)
For encouraging us to learn foreign languages from a young age
For emphasizing the importance of sisterhood
For telling us family is more important than anything else
For giving us the opportunity to see different countries and meet different cultures
For your unlimited patience and understanding
For accepting both your daughters as who they each are
For reminding us the importance of love every minute of every day

We love you because for 40 years for each other, for 38 years for yona, 35 years for Karen, 15 years for Jake and Isaac, 10 years for Axel and Jeff, and 4 years for David, you were by our side for each joy and sorrow and we cannot imagine a life without you.
We love you.


Love you both madly.