Parenting by Fiction

I finished reading Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns last night.  There's a lot I could say.  I read about the pull of progress and growing up and falling for someone and marriage and faith and family and loyalty and pride and death.  But I'm thinking about the parenting.  This boy is so loved.  His parents are not the main characters, but they're my favourite.  They are steady, understanding, and nurturing.  They make me look at parenting differently.  Yes it's teaching principles, and meeting needs, but it's also treasuring.