Recently at school, I have had a few incidents that have made me realize how genuinely grateful I am for my parents. My parents are divorced but live only ten minutes away from each other. My whole life has been spent dividing my time between both houses, not that this is a bad thing because I have gained a few extra people in my life including my stepmom and stepdad. I would say that my parents handled the whole divorce situation well growing up, considering I would have joint birthday parties and get-togethers every year.
Of course, growing up, I gave both my parents and stepparents a hard time with my attitude and stubbornness every day. But now that I am in college and always away from them, not having the time to give them my attitude, I genuinely realize how great people they are and would love for them to know that I acknowledge them and am thankful for them every day.
Starting with my dad and my stepmom, thank you guys for letting me be a part of all the crazy ideas that took place. These include building a house, or maybe two, or three. I am incredibly thankful that I have helped houses get built my entire childhood, which is one thing a lot of girls my age have never experienced before. Moving on from that thank you for encouraging me to be that girl who knows how to rotate her tires, check her oil, and change her oil, even though I was super stubborn about learning how to do this. Even though I do not want to know everything about a car, thank you for teaching me the basics. Continuing with the car talk, thank you Dad for buying me my first car. This actually means a lot to me as I was able to focus on my studies in high school and the beginning of college rather than working my butt off. Oh, and also thank you for buying parts for my car and always fixing it for me. And I have one last thank you for my stepmom, thank you for teaching me how to shop in the clearance aisle because I actually save so much money doing this.
Now let’s move on to my mom. Thank you, Mom, for being my biggest supporter of my academics my entire life. I still remember sitting at the table every day after school overwhelmed by the mounds of homework that I had to do and let’s just say I am incredibly thankful for the time you spent calming me down and helping me get through all the homework that I had to get done. Thank you for helping me through my anxiety and making me realize that it is an okay thing to have. Thank you for allowing my best friend to come to live with us when she was not in the best spot and then becoming a mom to her. Also thank you for being a second mom to so many of my friends. Thank you for showing me how strong you are with everything that you have gone through, and it has really made me into a strong individual myself. You inspire me in so many ways and do not realize it.
To both my parents and my stepparents thank you for everything you guys have done for me and the support you have given me my entire life. I am incredibly thankful for it, even when I do not show it all the time. However, it does mean the entire world to me that you guys are my biggest supporters, and I am incredibly thankful for all you guys do for me.