Michael Bishop | Hippy Dippie

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.” ~ Richard David Bach

My parents are my best friends.
They taught me the power of:
unconditional love,
acceptance,
happiness,
sharing,
caring-
And…
The Joy of Living!

When asked “How did you get to be, You?”
I can think of no prouder answer then… “My Parents!”
As they say… “Biology makes Babies, not parents”
I feel blessed for having experienced both of the above mentioned…
and so much more…
Definitively-
because,
They were always WAY more than “Parents”,
in the biological sense,
“an organism that produces or generates another”,
they were, more accurately,
“a source, origin, or cause”
to creation itself.

For my brother and I,
They were…
“protectors”
of who we were, are and will be…
and, “guardians” of a thing called Unconditional Love.

They were not in the business of baby-making for self amusement.
They were not motivated to control, restrict, or ease the realities of…
Being Human.
They simply, Let us Be.
And continue to do so…

They were living-breathing examples,
of the infinite power of Love.
They were not breeding for the sake of breeding,
nor were they confined to stereotypical ideals of “Family”

They set out to create,
for themselves,
a sense of the word “Family”
Unique to who they were as individuals,
and congruent to the bond they had formed,
and life they began, together 31 years ago on this very day.

They lead by example by doing good work in the world:

And they gave to me a best friend and Beloved Brother:

“Presence is more than just being there” – Malcolm Forbes

They Smiled WITH us:

They Traveled WITH us:

And Showed us the World:

They did not discourage but, rather EMBRACED and EXPOSED us to the Beauty of Diversity in the world:

And, as adults, we continue standing proud and in support of uniqueness:

They fostered understanding by subtly teaching us life lessons that sometimes stuck and sometimes took years to comprehend:

They enabled us to get close to Nature:

And understood the importance of allowing us creative freedom to find ourselves:

They did not dictate our clothing,

our preferences and/or our changing prerogatives…

They did things their own way and, consistent with the children that we were, did not hide us from the “real world” by distorting reality… instead, they explored it WITH us:

Choosing to En-Joy Parenthood WITH their Children:

And rather than force obscured interpretations of moral “rights” and “wrongs”, they simply let us expand into adhering to our own definitions of these things and, coincidentally enough, gave room for us to listen more closely to our innate conscience…

My mom didn’t hound me to eat my vegetables, do my homework or make me go to bed at a certain time… instead, she showed me how to love myself and taught me how to dance…

And because of that, I am an adult who loves to eat vegetables, do fulfilling work in the world and am devoted to finding the fine balance between nap and playtime. We were probably never described as “Normal”, and I think we are all just fine with that… We have lived in dozens of apartments all over the country:

And Owned many places we called “Home”:

And Sometimes… we lived out of suitcases and called hotels “Home”:

But, No matter where we rested our Gypsy Souls we did it TOGETHER! And with a knowing that this “Thing” we shared, as family and friends, it would Always support us:

They taught us the importance of adaptability and showed us the true meaning of being home inside ourselves:

They nurtured our individual relationships as children…

And now adults…

They simultaneously supported us in becoming the truest versions of ourselves… with acceptance.

Mama showed us what it meant to be loved, unconditionally, and how to do so ourselves:

And Papa, well, he instilled in us a passion for Living and showed us how to ENJOY Life:

They designed our lives to develop our passions

and then continued to support us as those passions shifted:

They gave us SPACE TO EXPRESS and pursue our innate Curiosity:

And encouraged us to develop confidence through “love of self” by removing limitations and giving us FREEDOM to BE:

When we were down, they enabled us to acknowledge our emotions, find resonance in relating and communicate openly without fear:

And were always open and willing to lend a hand, build trust and help us back on our feet when we felt in need:

They marveled at the wonder of our individual and collective evolution and accepted the inevitability of change:

And more than anything else… they made us feel WORTHY of unconditional love, success and always encouraged us to DREAM AS BIG AS WE POSSIBLY COULD (without restraint) and without the fear of failure:

They learned to grow WITH us And devote energy into strengthening our family “unit”:

Until the Respect was understood, appreciated and reciprocated…

They simply respected and therefore loved us, as was, and as is… by appreciating WHO WE ARE, as individuals, more than How They thought we “should” or “could” be:

And they’ve done the same with their partnership, for each other, from the beginning:

Mama and Papa, Congratulations on creating an incredible 31+ year long love story:

for all that you have become, created and are…

Someone once said: “If your children look up to you, you’ve made a success of life’s biggest job.” Well, what an honor it has been to be your child… after 28 years you’re still my biggest inspirations…

“i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)” ~e.e. cummings

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