When we were all young, our parents were the center of the universe. We only wished we could one day grow up to be exactly like them. Sometime in the process of us starting to really grow out of being a child and starting to become a teenager, we became too cool for our parents. For some strange reason, it seemed like they didn't understand what was going on in our lives...like they had never been teenagers once themselves. But then, college hits and boom. All of a sudden, we grow up just enough to realize that our parents are two of the best friends we could ever ask for.
Someone once said, "The only people who truly know your story, are the ones who helped you write it." It's crazy to even imagine not having the relationship I have now with my parents and it's even crazier to think that at a period of time, I didn't see them as friends; they were just my parents.
When you go to college, your parents become the backbone you can't live without...and I'm not just talking about them becoming your money fund (sorry Dad.) When it's 3 am during finals week and you believe that the world might actually be ending, your parents will always be there to pick up the phone and help calm you down, no matter the hour. Having relationship issues? Your parents have been there and back and are prime people to go to for advice. The older you get, the more your parents become less of authoritative figures and more "life consultants."
My parents were the two people in my life to always be there for me and have always tried their hardest, no matter how much of a pain in the ass I was, to help me be the happiest and best version of myself. It's such a shame that I didn't realize it sooner because life would have been so much easier for all of us if I had. When I went to college, I went through a lot of life changes, just as anyone does when they move away from home. One of the biggest realizations I had was the level of trust that had skyrocketed with my parents since I'd left home. Phone calls with my parents became more and more open and those phone calls became, and still are, one of the biggest stress relievers I had available to me.
As you get older, you start to realize that the people you tend to spend time with are ones that you believe deserve to take up your time. You realize that all those times your parents told you that you deserved better friends or better standards were right. You realize that though all the shit you've gone through in your life, your parents have never told you that you weren't good enough; you've always been good enough, and you have your parents to thank for that.
