Appreciate your parents!

So, like many people, I didn't really start to appreciate everything my parents did/do for me until I went off to college and wasn't with them anymore. Suddenly it hit me that they were paying for my education, they weren't cooking my meals anymore, and I only ever got to see them every three months. While I certainly enjoyed my freedom in college and wasn't really "homesick," over time I was thinking about how close I was to adulthood and how my role models for success are my parents. And they did a pretty good job of raising me into a successful adult (at least I like to think so!). They gave me a life that set me up for achieving all of my goals, from my education to helping me find my apartment to slowly easing me into paying for grown-up things like my cell phone bill. Even this weekend they bought me a brand new laptop for my birthday. How nice is that?!

 And that's just the recent stuff! What about the actual act of raising a child, like spoon-feeding me and taking me to Disney World and dealing with my teenage attitude in high school? The stuff that we only vaguely remember?

Of course it really hit home for me when I graduated from college and didn't have a job. First of all, my parents let me move back in with them. Parents are not obligated to do this! And when I was upset about my state of unemployment (which was every day pretty much), they kept telling me how smart and beautiful I was and how everything was going to work out. And it did!

My parents have always taken such good care of me, and are always there when I need them. So even when you think they're being annoying, your parents have done a lot for you!!!