Be the cheese

 

The other morning I fried a few sausage patties and baked a batch of biscuits. Nothing fancy. Just breakfast.

I've learned a little trick over the years. Fold half a slice of Velveeta over the sausage while it's still on the hot biscuit, then put the whole thing in the microwave for about 45 seconds.

Something interesting happens.

The cheese doesn't just melt. It slowly relaxes, flows around the sausage, fills the empty spaces, and almost wraps itself around it. If you time it just right, the sausage is nearly enveloped in a warm layer of cheese. It doesn't change what the sausage is. It simply makes it better. It protects it from drying out. Every bite becomes richer because something else has chosen to surround it.

As I stood there watching breakfast come together, I found myself thinking about my family.

I love my wife. I love my children. I love my grandchildren.

If I could choose one role to play in their lives, I think I'd like to be the cheese.

Not the center of attention. Not the hero of the story. Not the one everyone notices first.

I want to be the one who quietly surrounds them with encouragement, wisdom, stability, generosity, and love. I want to fill in the gaps when life gets hard. I want to protect where I can, support where I'm needed, and make their lives just a little richer because I was there.

None of us can shield the people we love from every disappointment or hardship. Life doesn't work that way.

But we can create an environment where they know they are loved, accepted, and never have to face life's challenges alone.

Maybe that's what the best parents and grandparents do. They don't try to become the sausage. They simply become the cheese that melts around the people they love.

And if we're fortunate, that love spreads from one generation to the next, just like warm cheese finding every little space it can reach.