Dear Mom and Dad,
I know what you’re all thinking. Great – another article on another college platform written by another girl who finally appreciates her parents after they replenish her bank account. While I am undoubtedly grateful for the monetary support I receive from my parents, this article is not meant to serve as another cliché form of kissing-up to my parents or to seem like the perfect daughter. It is quite challenging to express the gratitude you have for people that do so much and to even attempt reciprocating what they do for you, but words are a good start (maybe I’m slightly biased, considering I’m a writer). Often times, things that our parents teach us seem trivial or even burdensome at the time, but in hindsight prove to be life lessons that shape us into the successful human beings we become.
Thank you for…
Making me the friend of the group who not only wants to get up early to do things on the weekends, but also the one who wants to walk everywhere. I may have complained when I was younger, and my friends may hate me now sometimes, but I’m the one saving us $15 instead of taking an Uber during surge, as well as “making the most of the day” as you guys say.
Giving me my coffee addiction – This one needs no explanation. Thanks to one or more trips to Dunkin Donuts daily with you since middle school, I cannot go a day without it and my wallet has suffered. I hope you’re happy…
Teaching me to never settle. You’ve set the bar way too high making me feel as loved and special as you have for the past 18 years of my life, proving to me that no one (neither a friend nor a boy) is worth my time unless he or she is willing to give me the same in return. And Dad, they always say that a girl looks for her father in a man- we both know that, that would be difficult for several reasons, but for the best ones possible.
Giving me the confidence to succeed and the backbone to stick up for myself. Mom, you never have to wonder where I got my tendency to be headstrong and to debate everything because everyone knows that I got it from you. Despite the times we butt heads because of it, I am eternally grateful for that one of many traits I have inherited.
Knowing the importance of domestic companions and always making sure we had pets in the house. Crazy to think that I have gone a grand total of two weeks in my whole life without cats. I mean what would we do without them, right?
Allowing me to see the world. You’ve put so much emphasis on the value of experiences and investing in trips rather than expensive materialistic items. I am so grateful that my siblings and I have had the opportunity to travel every year to different exciting places, from all around the United States to countries along the Mediterranean and beyond. Not to mention how interesting our family road trips can be.
Supporting all that I do (except for my nose piercing, of course); there is a reason that you two are among the first people I contact with either good or bad news. You guys are my best cheerleaders out there and I have you to give credit for my confidence, work ethic, and ambition. Even though I know you probably don’t mean it, you constantly reassure me that I was not a hideous child in middle school – that is love, man.
Giving me my impeccable taste in music. Like I said, you guys emphasize the importance of experiences. I have been incredibly fortunate to have parents who share a similar music taste that bring me to so many concerts, from Aerosmith to Muse to Arctic Monkeys, and more.
Letting me put junk food in the shopping cart. Thank you for letting me have a childhood of plentiful sweets and fun foods- in moderation, of course. You don’t realize how great you have it until you’re in the school cafeteria and your peers are drooling over your food because their parents don’t let them have it in the house.
Always having my best interest. Even though you can come across as being overbearing and overprotective, I know that you do it out of love and because you want the best for me.
Thank you for being you. I love you.