Parents spend years of their lives sacrificing things so that we may lead a fulfilling life. Many of the sacrifices parents make often go without a thank-you. I have been thankful enough to have parents that have supported me and made sacrifices for me my entire life, and I thought I should take the time to say thank you.
1. Thank you for teaching me endless life lessons.
Car rides home with my mom often became opportunities for teaching. Thank you for telling me that I shouldn't be doing something, or that I shouldn't be hanging out with someone -- even when that isn't what I wanted to hear. I just wanted you to know that I'm listening now, and you were right about everything. Thank you to my dad for slightly embarrassing talks after a boyfriend broke up with me. Even when you didn't know how to handle 14-year-old tears, you always knew what to say to make me laugh.
2. Thank you for coming to my plays and athletic events.
Sometimes the plays were terrible, or I only had a small part. Thank you, mom, for volunteering to help with some of the plays, even though I knew you didn't have nearly enough time to be doing so. Thank you, dad, for coming straight from work still in your mail carrier uniform, to see me perform. A big thank-you to both of you for coming to my athletic events until we all stopped pretending I was good at sports.
3. Thank you for making holidays special.
Long after finding out Santa isn't real, you still put "from Santa" on some of the Christmas tags. Every Christmas to this day, we have the tradition of somebody putting on the Santa hat and being the one to hand out the presents. Everyone is gathered and we wait for dad to finish making his coffee. Thank you for never failing to make Christmas fantastic and full of love.
4. Thank you for not getting mad at me when I make the wrong decision.
No, I'm not counting that split second when you're angry at me. I know that you're only upset because you're worried about my well being. I've made a lot of decisions in my life that haven't been the best ones, and instead of yelling, you use them as an opportunity to teach me.
5. Thank you for supporting me when I came out.
Alright, so mom was a little upset when she first found out I had a girlfriend. Not because I had a girlfriend, but because I lied to her about having a girlfriend. (Sorry, mom.) I know I am more lucky than many people, because you have always been supportive of whatever gender I chose to date. Dad, thank you for lightening the atmosphere when mom was still upset about me having a girlfriend. Thank you for supporting me even though you may not understand what it means to be pansexual. Mom, thank you for always defending my choices to people that don't understand that you can like more than one gender. Thank you for working to understand what it means to be pansexual.
6. Thank you for making me laugh.
This is a simple one, but people that can make me laugh are the most important kind of people. Thank you, mom, for car rides home when we sang to Rick Springfield and you'd let me laugh because your pitch was totally off, but we were having the best time. Thank you, dad, for your endless supply of dirty jokes that make mom cringe but leave my belly sore from laughter.
7. Thank you for my education.
I could never thank you enough for the sacrifices you have made so that I can have a good education. Thank you, dad, for working overtime at work to help me get though high school and college. Thank you, mom, for working an extra job that gives me so many opportunities that may not have been available to me otherwise. I know that my education is a privilege that not everyone has, and I am forever thankful for the opportunities I have been given with the help of my parents.
8. Thank you for Sundays.
Sundays. The one day of the week when everybody happens to be home at the same time. Thank you for going out to dinner or lunch (usually the Ninety Nine), with laughs around the table. Thank you for game nights when I was younger. Thank you for rainy days in with rented movies. If there is one thing I miss about being home, it is Sundays with my family.
9. Thank you for teaching me how to survive in the real world.
I was shocked by how many people had never had a job when I got to college. Thank you for telling me I needed to get one as soon as I was able to. I will always be thankful for the experience I had working as a high school student. Thank you for teaching me how to do my taxes. Though sometimes I may still have questions, I can fill most of my tax form out by myself. Thank you for not just doing it for me. Thank you for making me help fill out my student loan information and for making me start paying off some of my loans. There are many times that I have been frustrated by the thought of learning these things, but I do them with the knowledge that you know what is best for me.
10. Thank you for loving me.
I know that sometimes I'm hard to love. I can be stubborn and set in my ways. I will argue with you until the cows come home. My room is a mess, and sometimes so am I. I don't know how to cook and, most of the time, don't show any interest in learning. Sometimes I spend my money on unnecessary things when I should be saving it. Occasionally I hang out with people that I know you don't like. I have made a lot of mistakes in the short amount of time I have lived, but you somehow manage to point out all the things I have done right.
I know that a million thank-yous will never be enough to show you how much you mean to me. Instead, I am hoping that the woman I am becoming marks what an impact you both have had on my life.
