Because We Love You...

Here lies the first draft of the dedication that will grace the back cover of our program for the Senior Appreciation Banquet. Each individual will have a place card with their name on the outside and one sentence inside telling them one reason we love them. I will try to post pictures after the event to let you see how big a celebration this is for us every year.

Here goes...

Each of you have a place card before you that contains within it a love letter of sorts. Inside the card, you will find just one of the many reasons you are loved by us. In keeping with the love notes theme, we wanted to share with you some wise words from others that help us express our affection toward you.

A quote from Robert Heinlein says, “Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
You have shown us that depth of love through your selflessness.
The unique way you have sacrificed your time, resources, and selves to make our lives happy is one of the reasons we love you.

It has been said that,
“A Friend is a treasure more precious than Gold,
For love shared is priceless and never grows old.”
Many of you have given yourselves to us in friendship for many years and we love you for being a part of our lives on an intimate level, helping us solve problems and rejoicing with us when blessings come our way.

Victor Hugo wrote, “The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved - loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.”
You have loved us when we were unlovable. You have accepted the individual that we are and cared for us, even when you didn’t like us very much. You believed in us, until we could believe in ourselves. For your acceptance of our frailties and your understanding that given time, we would mature and exhibit the very values you taught us, we love you.

"Love is shown in your deeds, not in your words" is a thought from Jerome Cummings.
We are twice blessed because you not only told us we were loved, but proved it in every conceivable way, through your actions. Sometimes, the love we needed was not in the way we expected and now that we have children of our own, we understand how the discipline you measured out truly did hurt you more than it hurt us.

“We can not do great things. We can only do little things with great love” are immortal words from Mother Teresa. Most of us will never achieve greatness, but we can do great things with the love you instilled in us. We can never repay you for the many wonderful ways you have enriched our lives, but we can tell you that you are loved more than you will ever know.