
I just discovered the song “Sunday Drive” by Brett Eldredge and played it for Rick as we drove through our mountains yesterday on Grandparents’ Day. Tears filled our eyes as we realized the song described the legacy of his parents. When Rick was a little boy, his parents loved to take Sunday drives after church—seemingly drives to nowhere that were a bit boring for four rambunctious little boys piled into a car in the 60’s with no seatbelts or AC. But like the lyrics of “Sunday Drive”—those were some of the best of times for their young family as Roselan and Dee taught their boys life lessons without words. A recent widow, Roselan is our daughters’ only living grandparent and they adore her. It’s been months since we’ve seen her due to Covid and I miss her. Thankfully, Roselan is still thriving and healthy at 87-years-old. Born on a farm in Albion, Nebraska, I love that Mom Dunagan drove a Model A on country roads in snowstorms to teach at a one-room schoolhouse before she was married to her beloved Dee. She raised four little boys—the second being my favorite—who all grew up to be hard-working and loving husbands and fathers. Roselan is a cancer survivor who bravely fought stage 4 lymphoma fifteen years ago. I remember being in tears back then, wondering if she would survive long enough to be at our daughters’ weddings one day. She not only survived, she thrived. A favorite memory with Mom is when she met me and my girls in New York City to celebrate their high school graduations—three generations of Dunagan women running through pouring rain after a Broadway show to get ice cream at midnight at the famous Serendipity restaurant. Our granddaughter is Roselan’s namesake. Baby Quinn Roselan just turned one and she is beautiful like her great grandmother and seems to have her sweet spirit and sense of humor. I pray she grows up to be a lot like her Great Grandma Roselan, including carrying on the Norwegian tradition of making Lefse and Lutefisk on Christmas Eve. The older I get, the more I appreciate this remarkable woman and her legacy. Her greatest gift has been a lifetime of prayers over our family, and her unconditional love for each of us—never judging, only loving. The end of the song “Sunday Drive: reminds us of the last time we were…
Read More