You watched me pretend to mow the yard in my plastic high heels when I was eight years old. Now you pick up the phone so I can ask how my credit card really works. You have always been there. To say you are the best parents a girl could ask for would be a massive understatement. So this is me saying thank you.
Thank you, first and foremost, for teaching me love. In its rawest form, you taught me that love is never jealous or angry. You taught me that everyone deserves it. Even when I don't understand someone, I accept and love them. I am that way thanks to your big hearts and your giving nature.
Mom, thank you for pretending to be my student when my favorite thing to do was play teacher. I was so annoying, but you always played along.
Dad, thank you for sending me a cheer-up card through the mail when I experienced my first heartbreak in eighth grade. You were in another state, yet you knew exactly how to lift me up.
Mom, thank you for teaching me to cook all my favorite things like homemade mac & cheese or chicken Alfredo. It's all I know how to cook, but hey, it's delicious!
Dad, thank you for working day and night to always pay the bills as well as provide the best holidays, birthdays, etc. every year. I didn't ever have to experience what it's like to be without the things I need or want.
Mom and Dad, thank you for creating a home where all of my friends felt welcome. From my gay and transgender friends to my questionable boyfriends, you both made the atmosphere so warm and fun for everyone. I could have brought someone home from another planet, and you would have been unconditionally accepting.
Thank you for never calling me crazy, even though we all know the truth...
Thank you for believing in even my most unrealistic dreams and letting me be free. I always got to spread my wings, while I know some parents hold their kids back. I was and still am the luckiest to have you. Through every hardship life may throw at me, I can always think of my best friends, my parents. I can always have the comfort of knowing you'll pick up the phone or drive to spend the night with me while I cry. You are, without a doubt, the reason I'm still here. You're the reason I keep going. I strive to make you proud. You gave me everything I need to go wherever I want to in this life, so I will not let you down.
Here's to you, Mom and Dad. Thank you one hundred times over. Thank you.
