A viral photo is giving us serious #relationshipgoals. Codie LaChelle McPhate posted a photo of her father mowing the lawn on Facebook. According to the post, the man, a Texas native, still mows his ex-wife’s lawn even though they’ve been divorced for 28 years.
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Many marriages end in an ugly divorce so it’s refreshing to see a story about a man who still cares for his ex-wife and family. Sometimes the simplest gestures really do mean the most to people.
This is how you co-parent.
McPhate explained why her dad still mows his ex-wife’s lawn: “My mom has bad knees, and my stepdad works out of town. When my younger siblings questioned, ‘Why is your dad mowing mom’s lawn?’ I told them, ‘Because, she needed help, and he knew she couldn’t get out here to do it, so he did.'”
She describes her mixed family and considers herself “lucky”. In the post she says, “This is how lucky I am to have four parents who respect each other, and know that at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is showing your children (even ones that are 32 years old) how to treat people and how to love your family, no matter how it came together.”
Dad mowed her lawn while he was on vacation.
According to McPhate, her dad was visiting while on vacation. Her mother has “bad knees” and has difficulty doing yard work.
She elaborated, “So not only did he do something selflessly for her, he did it for her while he was on his VACATION. He wants everyone to know, ‘I’m no saint.’ He just wants to show others that you don’t need to act like an angelic pastor on Lent, but that we should all choose kindness whenever we can.”
He’s not doing it for fortune, fame, or recognition.
After her Facebook post went viral, McPhate explains that her dad doesn’t do the lawn for recognition. Instead, he does it out of a sense of kindness and goodwill.
She explains that when her parents decided to divorce, “They would both choose to be adults and treat each other with respect and compassion, because no matter how their marriage ended, they both loved each other very much at one point, and that that love — counts for something.”
She says the bottom line for her father is, “That if they were going to raise their children to be good, kind people, they needed to be good kind people.”
There is still good in this world.
McPhate says she’s lucky to have her mixed family dynamic. “I know my moms and dads would do anything for each other, because we’re family. I’m very fortunate to have such amazing parents.”