My mom once told me that my parents will ONLY ever be in 1 of 3 places: In front of you to cheer you on, behind you to have your back, or next to you so you are not walking alone. Growing up being reliant on my parents from day one has allowed me to see the many blessings that I had now that I look back. There are the stages that every child goes through that I'm sure makes parents want to rip their hair out of their heads, but everything they do, they do through love for us. When we are growing up, we don't see why it is such a big deal that we can't go to a midnight premiere of a movie, go to the mall with a boy they haven't met, or why we don't go to school for one day because we need a break. But now that I am currently a sophomore in college, I am now having to sort out the priorities that I am faced with everyday.

I remember the days where I would come home and the house was clean, the pets were always fed, there were always clean clothes, dinner was always made, there was a warm bed and a roof over my head. That is just fine and dandy until your senior year of high school when you are ready to get out of your parents house and live on your own, but you don't think about the little things. You move into the dorms (if you're lucky, you get to skip them), once your parents stock your mini fridge and whatever storage you are using to keep your mac-n-cheese in, they leave and reality finally hits you. You have to do your laundry, feed your pets, worry about what to make for dinner and so on, while figuring out how to college your first year.

Dear Mom and Dad,

There are so many things that I have taken for granted until I realized that I am in the adult stage where going to college, working part time, having a dog and getting involved in my community is easier said than done. So many times I have wanted to give up and find a different career path to go down that didn't require a degree. But without you both encouraging me to do my best and telling me that no matter where life goes, you will always be with me, made figuring out how to "adult" a little bit easier. I'm not saying by any means that it is easy, some days are worse than others, and living paycheck to paycheck doesn't make it any easier. But we all have to start somewhere.

There isn't a day that I don't think about you, mom and dad. I just wish I could balance out life well enough to call you both more than once every couple days. But here I am sophomore year still trying to figure out how to college, I like to think that I am getting better at communicating with you. But even when I am having a hard time and it has been a few days since we have talked, I know that you are still standing by my side miles apart and just a phone call away. You always answer your phone and let me have my emotional breakdowns about whatever is going on that week, you're like my own personal counselor that I don't have to schedule appointments for.

Learning how to college is something that comes easy for some and not for others. I personally am catching myself falling under the not category, but I know that no matter what career I decide to choose, where I finish out my degree or even how I answer a question for a class, you will always be there to guide me as I figure out what to do with myself.

You never fail to encourage me, hold my hand when times get rough, and give me the ability to chase my dreams. Without you I don't know how I would get through the week and who I would be able to call and have a mental breakdown with, because I wouldn't want any other set of parents to be my counselors.

Mom and dad, thank you for being the best parents a person could ever want to have. Thank you for doing all the things you do, even though I don't say thank you as much as I should. You both mean the world to me and I couldn't imagine life without you.