Parents are embarrassing. Of course, they don't mean to be, but it's a very important part of the job description.

Pretty far up there on the embarrassment scale: your parents wishing each other a happy anniversary on Facebook, complete with the lovey-dovey "you're my best friend," and "forever and always" sentiments.

While eye-rolling, laughing and a general feeling of discomfort ensued after seeing such posts, I nonetheless couldn't stop smiling thinking just how lucky I am to have parents who care about each other so much that they feel the need to share that love with the world (no matter how cheesy and mortifying it is to themselves and their children).

Despite its many quirks and certainly imperfect moments, my parents' marriage has taught me a great deal, namely:

1. Find someone who makes you laugh until you cry, whom you can horrendously butcher singing songs with, and who will be there for you in your best, and especially worst, moments.

2. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a long-lasting, love-filled marriage to look up to, and therefore may have different relationship expectations than your own.

In regards to the first lesson, thanks to my high school sweetheart parents, I know that no matter how attractive, successful and genuinely nice a person is, if that person cannot make you laugh, they are not worth the long-term investment. Sure, they'll probably give you laugh lines and potentially make themselves (and you) look like a fool in public, but so long as you find someone you can laugh at and with without fear of offense, you will find some sort of happiness on even your darkest days.

However, life won't always be all fun and games, and unfortunately, life happens and the going gets tough. Friends and family members begin to dwindle, and when the whole world stops making sense, your relationship is the only thing that should. Every hurdle my parents have overcome gives me hope to find the same salvation in a significant other somewhere down the road.

At various times throughout your life, you will need different kinds of salvation and until you find "your person," that salvation may come from different people; friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, etc. Your "right here, right now" person may be just what you need at the moment, but not what you need when you hit rock bottom and need a shoulder to cry on.

And in that regard, the people you will meet and grow close to as time passes will offer you countless perspectives on love and loss, often (I find) stemming from lessons they learned from their own parents' marriage.

There is no "ultimate" definition of love, and we all know there are multiple kinds of such compassion. Though it may be painful to hear and to witness because the love someone else knows isn't the same love you have grown to believe in and aspire towards, take each good, bad and straight up ugly relationship with a grain of salt. That person was put in your life to serve some purpose at some point in time, and you are a stronger, more well-rounded and probably appreciative person because of it.

So, mom and dad, I didn't get to have the high school sweetheart love you two lovebirds found in one another. But, what your marriage has taught me is that there is some goofball out there crazy enough to want to get late night fast food with and fund my bargain shopping addiction (thanks for that one, mom).

I'll probably continue to have experiences that infuriate and frustrate me, yet never cease to entertain you. Stinks for me, I guess, but today - on your anniversary - and every day, it's that weird thing going on between you two weirdos that keeps me looking forward to my own oddball Prince Charming.

Thanks for being my all-time favorite couple, and thank you for showing me the love that I and others should never stop searching for.