“I can’t wait to get out of this house."

“I’m 18, stop telling me what to do.”

Sound familiar? It does to me. As many teenagers do, I pushed my parents away when I reached a certain age. I stopped seeing my parents as the coolest and started seeing them as the people that just tried to ruin my fun. My friends always told me how much they loved my parents and how cool or funny they were. I never understood.

Then, I moved out.

The awful day that my parents dropped me off at college came faster than I could’ve imagined. I cried like a baby. I gave my dad a hug for the first time in probably months. While I do love college and my new found freedom, I miss my parents a lot. When I go home, I realize how much I miss my mom popping her head into my room to talk to me; or my dad singing in the kitchen at the top of his lungs.

I wish I had spent more time with my parents while I was at home. I wish I had spent less time arguing and more time telling them how my day was. Sometimes it is hard to understand how important parents are until you have to leave them.

I'm more than grateful for all that they have sacrificed for me. I will miss all the times they came to my choir concerts, even if I didn't have a solo. I will miss all the horseback riding lessons they took me to, and all the times my sister and I made them sit down and watch our performances we put on in the living room. I know that they continue to set their lives to the side when it comes to their children, and I've never really thanked them for that.

So, thank you to my wonderful parents.