How do you describe the sound of a locked door being tried? We all know the familiar clunk, followed by a groan perhaps or a shout of exasperation, but it is kinda hard to define. We don’t think about it too much, because it’s such an ordinary occurrence and life has a more than a few locked doors; they’re nothing special. When I was trying to get into my house tonight, though, the clunk struck me as strange. I am not used to coming home to my door locked. How strange is it to go to your house that is always open for you and find that the door is locked?

I am very fortunate- a lot more than I often realize- to live with my parents while I’m attending college. I often take for granted how much it really does mean to come home every day and see my true biggest fans in the world. I am too busy rehearsing, hanging out with friends, enjoying the college life- you know what college kids do- (just in case Mom and Dad are reading this, studying is also on the list) and reveling in my freedom. I can only imagine it’s even more so for some of my classmates who live hours and hundreds of miles from their families. We get so caught up in the wonders of college that we often forget about the blessings of the home we have to come back to at the end of the semester. And when we do come back home, we get the pleasantries out of the way and dream of going back to being with friends and our new families that we have established at our schools.

As I stand there- if you can picture a 20 year old with his hand on a doorknob to his house with a confused expression fishing for keys in his left pocket- contemplating life as I know it (have to get my melodrama in for the day), I really do start to think of the future. Chances are I will move far away from my parents and start my own family and become engrossed in my field. I will not have a lot of time to come back to the house and check in on my parents. Any time I get to see them will be a moment that I will cherish dearly and I just don’t understand why it’s not like that now. Maybe it is the “cool college kid who is independent and does not need parental guidance” part of me that is driving me to be as free as I can from them. The truth is, though, that I will always be their son. No matter where I go or what I do, they will always be my parents. They have shown me so much love in my life and helped me become the man I am today and I owe them so much. I will most likely never find two other people that love me as much as they do and I take that for granted. I think they might be cramping my style or treating me like a child, but I am their child. It would not kill me to let them be parents to me and show me the love they want to show me and I can certainly show some back to them for all they’ve done for me.

We all have those back home that love us dearly and are rooting us on harder than any sports fan. Our families love us unconditionally and with all their hearts. We have such a beautiful resource of support and guidance and compassion and we should enjoy it while it lasts, because some day it might not be there. We’ll move on to other things and long for the days that we sat around the dinner table or talked about our days at school and just enjoyed each other’s company. So make sure that you show your families you love them- in whatever way that you know how. Just open that door and show how much you appreciate them and all they do for you, so whenever the door finally locks, you’ll know it has prepared you to face another greater door that’s yet to come.