To my empty-nester parents,

Well, congratulations guys... you successfully did it! You got rid of all your kids and shipped them off to school. We're no longer your responsibility and you are free to live life as if there are no strings attached anymore. Just kidding—please deposit as much money as you physically can in my account ASAP.

I cannot imagine how you two are feeling. Is it weird? Lonely? Relaxing? Probably all of the above. Whatever you are feeling, make sure that pride is somewhere in the mix. Because you both should be proud of what you've accomplished the past 18+ years while raising us, as you've said multiple times—it wasn't easy and sometimes not enjoyable.

Which brings me back to—you did it!

It's now our time to show you how good of a job you both did raising us. You instilled the most important life lessons and showed us how to be the best people we can be..aend we are. Somewhere in between the messy rooms and constant car rides and yelling for us to wake up every morning, we became kids you could be proud of and it's all thanks to you.

Every time you think of us and what we're doing at 2 a.m. on a Saturday night, just know that we're a replica of you two, so obviously we're leaving the library after a long night of studying. Kidding, again—we are your kids. We're out having fun and making the most of our time here. Something you guys taught us. Surround yourself with people you love and people that love you back and just have fun. We're not taking life too seriously right now but we're making a lifetime worth of good memories and creating stories that will have you laughing for hours when we call you next.

I'm not sure how you did it, but you raised the most confident and self-loving children in the world. Always keep that in mind. It may have been because of a song dad would sing in the car when we were little or mom stressing how little we should care about what people think of us. Whatever it was, we ended up ok. We are who we are and will never change for anyone or anything.

We know our right from wrong. We know the importance of hustling and going after what we want and what we believe in. We have self-discipline. You guys win the parenting award.

You two will worry about us regardless but know that you don't have to.

I've never talked to my siblings as much as I do now. It may not be in the comfort of our living room or in the dimly lit Main Streets restaurant but the love is still there.

You can't ask for anything more than that. Well, maybe a decent GPA but let's understand our course loads first—thank you.

Our lives were built on love and it will only continue on with love from here. Thank you for giving us everything we needed while we were growing up. Thank you for giving us room to grow and follow our dreams, even if they are all in opposite directions.

We appreciate everything and hope to be just like both of you one day.

Enjoy the peace while you can. Before you know it, we'll be back and the grocery bill will be higher again. The front TV will be on full blast. We will be fighting over who needs the car and whose reason is more important than the others. Laundry will triple. Shoes will be scattered around the front door... do you still want us home?