Can the Internet Retire My Parents for $1 Each?

My parents have always been happiest with a simple life: family, hard work, time together, and taking care of the people around them.

My dad grew up in a small town in Oregon, one of four kids, in a house that for a while didn’t even have indoor plumbing. He had a paper route as a kid and learned early what it meant to work for what he had. He served four years in the Navy and then spent about 40 years in a plywood mill — and somehow, after work, he always had more to give.

He coached nearly every sport we played, and before practice we’d drive around picking up kids whose parents couldn’t give them a ride. He made those kids feel important. He worked overtime when money was tight, and once drove three hours on a weeknight to watch my brother play, got home at 2:00 a.m., and was back at work by 6:00. That was my dad. He showed up. Every time.

My mom was born into a family of 13 kids and spent much of her childhood in foster care with the woman I grew up knowing as my grandma — a woman who fostered more than 50 children. My mom grew up needing someone to give her a home. Then she spent much of her adult life making our home a safe, loving place for other people’s children.

She ran a daycare out of our house for years — some summers it felt like 10 to 15 kids were here at any given time. She didn’t just babysit them, she helped raise them, and many of them still come back to see her. She later cared for another generation in senior living, and today she’s still working as a nanny. She’s still taking care of someone else’s family.

Growing up, we camped, took road trips, played sports, and drove old cars. There was never a lot of extra. But I never once felt like I was missing anything. My parents somehow made a simple life feel like a really good one.

They live in Oregon. We live in Arizona. I’d love for a plane ticket to see their grandkids to be a decision about when they want to come, not whether they should spend the money.

We didn’t have everything. We had each other, and somehow my parents made that feel like we were rich.

They’ve spent their whole lives showing up for everyone else. I just want to see what happens if we show up for them.