I sometimes think that many twenty something-year-olds forget how much their parents have done for them. When you're feeling down, they pick you up and brush you off. When you need a shoulder to cry on, they lend theirs.
I guess not every person is lucky enough to have parents like I do. I think I sometimes take for granted how selfless my parents have been throughout the years. They not only have been my main support system, but they are the people who encourage me to pursue my dreams. As I have gotten older, I have come to realize how much my parents have done for me.
And I could never thank them enough.
A simple "thank you" Mom and Dad just doesn't do it justice, but here are some reasons why I am so appreciative for the both of you:
1. Thank you for all of your embarrassing moments -- you have taught me how to laugh even if I didn't want to.
2. Thank you for keeping me humble and learning how to be kind to everyone around me.
3. Thank you for driving me around until I got my license. I would never have been able to make it to practice or have any type of social life without you.
4. Thank you for making my lunch every single day -- peanut butter and jelly is still my favorite.
5. Thank you for teaching me how to be responsible. It has made college and attempting to be a 'real adult' so much easier.
6. Thank you for taking care of me, making me soup and making me drink ginger ale when I was sick (even when I'm sick in college I still want my mom to take care of me).
7. Thank you for sitting though all of my dance recitals and soccer games, even in the freezing cold for the past 15 years. In the rain and snow I always heard my biggest fans on the sideline.
8. Thank you for always knowing what is best for me and keeping me on track. It's so true when people say that your mom is always right (dad you are too--sometimes).
9. Thank you for putting my brother and I first. Making sure we have food on the table every single night and a warm bed to sleep in is one of the best gifts you could have ever given us.
10. Thank you for practically re-learning Algebra so that you could help me with my homework even when I didn't want to do it.
11. Thank you for your tough love -- I am a much stronger (and more stubborn) person because of it.
12. Thank you for waiting up for me at night to make sure I was home safe even if it was one o'clock in the morning.
13. Thank you for laying in my bed with me at night and talking with me until I fell asleep (or until you fell asleep first).
14. Thank you for allowing me to use your shoulder to cry on when I feel like my whole world is turned upside down.
15. Thank you for watching every country music award show with me, even if they ended late at night.
16. Thank you for answering every phone call, especially now that I am in college. You have no idea how much better I feel when I hear your voice.
17. Thank you for sending me care packages and visiting me at school. There is nothing I love more than spending the day together when I feel so far from (my first) home.
18. Thank you for letting me sleep in your bed after I watch a scary movie and I am too much of a chicken to sleep in my own.
19. Thank you for trusting that I will make good decisions which I do (most of the time haha)!
20. Thank you for being the 'cool' parents -- all of my friends love you.
21. Thank you for allowing me to have an optimistic outlook on life. The glass is half full, not half empty.
22. Thank you for understanding my anxiousness and helping me to get through it.
23. Thank you for setting aside family time every night. You may not have known it, but my favorite part of the day was sitting around the kitchen table together talking about our day.
24. Thank you for putting up with me when I was a devil child and a moody teenager.
25. Thank you mom, for being my best friend and my confidant. You are the best secret keeper!
26. Thank you dad, for inspiring me. There is nothing I want more than to be able to wake up every morning like you do, happy with the career that I choose.
27. Thank you for allowing me to make mistakes and realize that when I do, it's okay.
28. Thank you for allowing me to pursue my dreams and believing in me, even if they seem a little unrealistic.
29. Thank you for being my biggest supporters day in and day out. No matter where I go in life, I will always know that you have molded me into the person I am today. I truly would be nowhere without either of you.
30. Most importantly, thank you for being the best examples of the type of parent I want to be to my future children. If I can be even half of the people you two are, then I will be one happy girl.
There are not enough "Thank You's" to truly describe how grateful I am for the both of you. Thank you today, thank you tomorrow and thank you every day for being the best parents. I appreciate the both of you more than you will ever know!
