Parents are something that everybody has and everybody takes for granted. You never have to stop and think about what it would have been like growing up without them, you just know that one day when you're old, they'll die but by that time you'll probably be a parent yourself.

Now I say I'm parentless because I grew up not having parents. I briefly had a mom and my dad, I don't really know much about him. I've only ever seen like five pictures of him in my lifetime.

I was born into this world with parents but my experience in this world has been without.

The worst thing about growing up without parents is hearing all your friends complain about theirs. In the back of your mind, if you're like me and both of yours died, you're thinking "Why can't you just appreciate the fact that you have two people who love you, whether they are together or not?"

It kills me because a lot of my friends forget that I don't have the same things they have. I have a village.

I have a grams, some siblings, uncles and an aunt that raised me. It's a whole different experience. You come to see having parents as a privilege, not as a basic right.

My mom died when I was very young, I remember her smile and her laughter but that's basically it. I know her mostly through pictures and stories but I never actually KNEW her personally, or at least not that I can remember completely.

Some people say that memory is a fickle thing. I honestly think memory is an asshole. I would much rather forget junior year algebra than what my mom's voice sounded like.

But sadly I remember Mr. F's teaching methods and what his handwriting looked like more clearly than her. But I have her picture, everywhere. On my phone, on my walls back home.

Her name is permanently in my body so that I know I came from someone and that she had a good heart and loved me.

When I found out my biological father died, I was dicking around on family history websites and google trying to find out information on him.

I was trying to find out through the internet who the man who helped give me life was. The first thing that popped up was his obituary. I cried. I still don't know if my tears were even justified.

I still can't tell if I cried because I was sad, or if a sense of loneliness hit me, or if it was for the pain of his family or if it was because of all of these years I had said that I had no parents and at that moment it was actually 100% true.

I can't tell you why I cried but the truth is, I did and I cried a lot. Like ugly faced sobbing tears. At work. Not a good moment for me.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. I had my village and they were amazing. My Grams raised us and it's definitely a different experience than most.

Some people have young grandparents or a grandparent that helps but those of us whose grandparents raised us know that it's different and it's not easy.

To this day, whenever people ask me for "Parental Contact Information" my sarcastic self wants to write "Next to a Vietnam Vet and a little girl, Sacred Heart Cemetery" under the address.

But I refrain from doing so because not everyone thinks that that kind of sarcasm is funny. Oops. Instead I write my Grams name, our address and that she doesn't have an email and just give them mine.

She's honestly the most amazing woman, in my opinion, on the face of the Earth. She has done nothing but her very best. We argue like mother and daughter, we laugh like mother and daughter, we have a kind of friendship as well as a parental relationship.

She's the person I cry to. She's the first person I go to with good news because they look of happiness in her eyes is all I will ever need.

But the thing that is different about being raised by her and not having parents to boot, is the fact that I know one day, I won't have her either.

I know her time will come and I can only hope that when it does she knows how much I truly love and appreciate her for everything she has ever done for me.

She's the only parent I have ever had that has been around long enough to watch me grow, help me through my milestones, and then know when it's time to let go and grow on my own. She is the queen of my village.

My experience without parents is only really different for those who have in little ways. There's the constant reminder that you're missing something.

There's literally everyday reminders that something about your life is different and it's not okay by any means. There's awkwardness when you have to meet other people's parents because parents are some weird foreign creature you've never had to deal with and it's hella awkward...at first.

Then you get best friends, then their parents love you like their own, then you feel part of their family and then...you don't feel weird and awkward, you don't feel as lonely because now your family has grown.

It's grown from not just those you were born into but to those you chose and who chose you.

My best friends were a big part in my later raising because they taught me not to be angry anymore, they taught me that the three/four/five of us are one weirdly dysfunctional but functional family and even though we all have the choice to leave, we won't.

My best friends helped break me out of my shell. They helped me see that I'm not and nor will I ever be as lonely as I thought I would be. Then we shared our families.

They are all part of my village too, whether they know it or not.

So being parent-less is..a time. It's different from your life but kinda just normal to me, at this point.

What it's like is hard to explain and doesn't always make sense when I try to explain it in depth. But nothing about my situation will ever 100% make sense and that's a solid fact.

I'm totally ok with it because I believe that God doesn't put you in situations that he doesn't think you can handle. So I got this.