Dear Mom and Dad,
Before we even met, I knew you loved me. Although change is inevitable throughout a lifetime, you had the choice to decide whether or not you were going to keep me. Everything could have stayed the same. You had options – you could have terminated the pregnancy, given me up for adoption, or kept me for yourselves to watch me grow. For you, however, this decision was a no-brainer.
You were overjoyed to give your son the younger sibling that he had asked for (even though he claimed he wanted to "send me back" after I was born). You thought long and hard about what I would be named. You refrained from drinking and abstained from anything else that may have harmed me before I even had the chance to thrive. You accepted the fact that every birth runs the risks of complications, yet you were willing to play the cards for me. You vowed to take care of me despite any issues my future may have held. You prayed that I would be healthy and develop at a normal rate.
On December 16, 1996, your lives were altered forever. When you looked into my blue eyes and saw my glow-in-the-dark blonde hair, you knew that you had made the right choice and that change would be a good experience. When you held me in your arms for the first time, you both felt a love that nothing could destroy as you held my tiny body against your chests. You were amazed at the life you had created, and you were ecstatic to have the opportunity to watch me seize every major milestone of my life. You thought about my destiny with great excitement before I even knew what a future was.
With every day, a new challenge arose before me. You watched in awe as your baby girl took her first steps and said her first words. You embraced me in your arms for a quick hug every time I fell down and became discouraged, but you always pushed me to keep trying. You taught me that no matter how many times I failed, success was just around the corner.
As I got older, you encouraged me to make friends and allowed my knowledge to expand by blessing me with an education. You signed me up for various sports, and taught me the value of perseverance by not allowing me to quit an activity until the season was over. Although it is not always easy, to this day, I am reluctant to quit a task until it is completed. I work hard, endure the pain, and celebrate when it is over.
You have built the stepping stones to achieving my dreams and told me that it is my job to follow the path. You have warned me that if I stray from the trail, the terrain may be uneven and consequences may result. Although the conditions of the land have been out of your control, you have held my hand as I have struggled over every hill. You have remained by side despite the bumpiness of the road, the weather, or the wild animals that have been thrown onto our path.
We have encountered each obstacle together and formulated a plan to make our way to the finish line. Whenever there is a problem that is too big for my own hands, I know that your hands are more extensive than mine. The lines within your palms hold the wisdom from your own experiences, and you gladly bestow your knowledge to me anytime I need it.
You two were my first friends, and I have compared every relationship since my birth to our indestructible bonds. Because of you, I have been able to recognize when I deserve better. I understand that certain personalities may clash, and I realize that I am worthy of better treatment. When people try to make me feel inferior, I crush them with kindness and show them how they are missing the opportunity to be friends with a person who would give them the world. I refuse to settle. I thank you for your advice and guidance whenever someone has tried to pound me into the ground as if they were crushing a bug.
Most importantly, you both have taught me how important it is to love myself before anyone else. You have ingrained the lesson of respecting myself into my mind. I understand that I am not 'flawless', and nor do I strive to be 'perfect.' All of my faults and flaws are a vital part of who I am, and they make me real (unlike the distorted and photo-shopped models from the media). By embracing my imperfections, I gain peace of mind. By being taught to accept myself, I have learned to love myself; therefore, by discovering how to love myself, I, in turn, can be loved by others.
Thank you for being so selfless and compassionate. I'm blessed to have two people who will accept me and love me unconditionally no matter what mistakes I may make. Thank you for pushing your own dreams and desires off to the future so that you can watch your children succeed. I am so grateful for your advice on seeking happiness in everything I do because joy is ultimately a vital factor of truly living.
I am beyond grateful that you have been able to provide me with such a comfortable lifestyle and for making home my favorite place to be. I know this is not the case for many of my peers, and it saddens me to know that everyone's home is not their security blanket like it is for me. Leaving for college, parting with my childhood, and saying goodbye to the two people who love me the most has been a challenging adjustment, but how lucky am I to have people in my life who made saying goodbye so difficult?
Although I might not always say it or show it, I love you to the moon and back, and I am blessed to have you both in my life. Someday, I pray I will have the chance to be half as good of a parent as you both have been to me.
Love Always,
Your Daughter
