Throughout the past 19 years of my life, there have always been those who have supported and helped me on this crazy journey of life. I have been extremely blessed with an amazing support system, but I could not have accomplished anything without my two biggest fans; my parents. Looking back in life, there have been countless hard decisions, struggles, and triumphs I have been able to get through because of my parents. They have loved and supported me unconditionally since day one, and I could never thank them enough. So here’s to my number one fans.

Thank You For Always Being There

Thank you both for always staying by my side. I know I have not always been the easiest child to deal with. Having each of you there during those troubled times helped me to learn valuable lessons from each of those mistakes. Through thick and thin I could always count of the two of you to be right there with me. Growing up that was such a blessing to me. Although I did not always show it, having you guys at every sporting event, every school event, and every milestone meant the world to me. Looking back now I see that I was extremely blessed to have both my parents every step of the way.

Thank You For Being my Number One Fans

Thank you for always being my biggest cheerleaders, especially when my biggest rival was myself. No matter how much I doubted myself and my talents you both were always there to remind me of how great I was and how bright my future would be. I truly believe the reason I am where I am today is because I had two amazing cheerleaders to cheer me on a push me to become the woman I am, even when I felt I could never get this far. From the sitting on the bleachers at the t-ball games, to being at the high school state softball game, to watching me play in my very first collegiate game you have always cheered me on. It has always been the most amazing feeling to know my parents are in those stands to watch me play. I always tried my best to make you both proud and when I would see how happy or excited you would get I knew I had done just that.

Thank You for The Countless Sacrifices

Thank you for the countless times you have made sacrifices to help me accomplish the things I love. Thank you for the time and energy put into my softball and other sports. I know it was very hard on the both of you and the family. I know traveling all over the different states to softball tournaments during the hottest months of the year was not exactly how you pictured your last 10 summers, but I am beyond thankful for you both to do that for me. I Know my sports took way too much of your time away my siblings and time with each other. I know my sports was a very costly and often times made finances tight. I appreciate the fact that even when things were hard on you and the family you still allowed me to continue playing. I am thankful you both were able to come up with ways to allow me to continue playing. You both made my dream come true. Without these sacrifices I would not be here today attending college and playing college softball.

Thank You for Pushing me Academically

Thank you for knowing how intelligent I was when I felt I was not. Thank you for pushing me to work hard in school and to be proud of the work I did. From the long nights of memorizing flash cards, to the late nights of writing papers, to making the presidential honor roll I have had you both to help teach and guide me. I did not always make the best grades and at one point in time I struggled with caring if I did. Thankfully I had my parents there to remind me how important it is to do my best and make the best grades possible. With the help and guidance of the both of you, I was able to turn my C's into B's and eventually turn my multi-lettered report cards into straight A's. I know for a fact I would not have the work ethic that I have academically if it wasn't for the two of you pushing me to be my best, and for that, thank you.

Thank You for Reminding me of my Self-worth

Thank you for always reminding me that I am important and I am worthy. Thank you for allowing me to grow into the beautiful, intelligent, and unique young lady that I am. For every girl, growing up can be hard. We feel ugly, awkward, and extremely weird. I definitely went through the ugly duckling stage with my chunky tummy, acne, and being six inches taller than 90% of my classmates. Even at what I felt my ugliest time growing up, you both made me feel like I was beautiful and because of this, I knew I was worthy. From a young age, you taught me to respect all people, including myself. As I have grown older I have come to realize how important that is. To have a father that never fails to remind me that I am loved and beautiful, and a mother to show me how to represent and respect myself is so special. Not every girl out there is lucky enough that have that but I am so blessed to have the both of you.Here's to my number one fans, my heroes, my greatest blessings, thank you both mom and dad.

Love,

Your favorite oldest daughter