Li-zchus my amazing parents to whom I owe everything!!!
There is a HUUUUGE mitzva to honor one's parents. That we all know. What does it mean to honor them??
The gemara says that one gives them to eat, drink, clothing, go places with them if they need your help [מכניס ומוציא] etc. The Shulchan Aruch adds that it must be done with a smile.
The Chayei Adam [based on the Sefer Hacharedim] adds a chidush that is critical to know: One has to VIEW his parents as if they were גדולים ונכבדי הארץ - Great, honorable people! Meaning, it is not enough to honor them with action but one must honor them in one's mind as well. [Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz takes this even further and says that one must find an aspect of one's parents where they are a gadol ha-dor ואכמ"ל].
May I add [yes? thank you:-)] - If one doesn't then he is a chazeer. A person's parents brought him into the world, EVERY SECOND OF HIS LIFE HE OWES TO THEM. Every bit of pleasure from a bite of food, a cool breeze, hearing a song, EVERYTHING!!! His ENTIRE EXISTENCE!!
If one is with one's spouse involved in the mitzva people enjoy doing so much, he should think to himself "THANK YOU MOM AND DAD for bringing me into this world so that I can enjoy this".
When he has a child and gets nachas from his child he should think "Thank you mom and dad for giving me life so that I could have this unreal nachas from my child."
When one enjoys a talent of his - for example he is smart and quickly grasps a gemara, he should think "Thanks mom and dad for the brains you gave me!!!" Half your DNA from dad and half from mom.
And so on and so forth. There is also a special mitzva to love one's parents in a special way [Zohar Ki Teitzei 281/1].
Let us be מתחזק in honoring our parents. Even if they are not here on planet earth but in the "real world" there is also a mitzva to honor them after their passing.
[NOTE: There is a great new sefer out on Kibbud Av Vi-eim called משנת כהן that I highly recommend. I can get you a copy if you want. I know the author].
