During your teenage years, your parents can feel like the enemy. They set the house rules and it seems like they’re always trying to control you. Tension is high when you’re a teenager. You think you have your life together but you don’t. When you finally go away to college, you feel free. Some people might think, “How could I ever want to see my parents again after I have this much freedom?”

That’s exactly how I felt growing up. I didn’t realize or appreciate just how much my mom or dad supported and loved me until I didn’t have them anymore. When I was younger, I thought they were against me. I thought they were punishing me for wanting to have fun and not wanting to be responsible. Looking back on it though, I’m so blessed to have had the parents I did.

So thank you, Mom and Dad. Thank you for moving away from the amazing city of San Francisco to ensure my sisters and I had a top-notch education. Thank you for allowing me to try every sport possible until I found the right one for me. Thank you for allowing me to try out every extracurricular activity I could think of. During my whole time living at home, thank you for always having breakfast waiting for me when I woke up and dinner waiting when I came home from a tough day.

Thank you for always supporting everything I do. When I was younger, you were always there at every swim meet, waiting for me at the end of my race with a towel and a hug. You didn’t give my sisters and me everything we wanted, but you gave us everything we needed, which is even more valuable. Thank you for taking us on generous trips, ones that most parents would leave their children behind for. Thank you for being there when I’d cry in my room at night.

Thank you for putting up with me when I was a pain in the neck to everyone. Thank you for loving me when I was unloveable. Thank you for pestering me to do my homework and punishing me for bad grades. I didn’t understand it at the time, but now that I’m about to graduate college I realize just how important school is. Speaking of college, thank you for pushing me through high school and helping me search for colleges. Thank you for putting me through college in general. Thank you for telling me that I could succeed.

Thank you for always having my best interests in mind. Thank you for never giving up on me. There were so many times in my life that I just wanted to stop trying forever, but you guys were always there to comfort me, ensuring that life would get better. Thank you for always seeing the potential in me. But most of all, thank you for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself.

All of the little things you guys did throughout my life really added up. You’ve always been there encouraging my sisters and I in everything we do. You give us all hope that we can achieve our dreams and goals. You are some of the most hardworking and caring people I know. So thank you for everything.

Love, Colette