1.
Thank you for loving me. Deeply, honestly and entirely. Even during the moments when I felt so undeserving of that love. Even when I felt imperfect and flawed.
You loved me so much it didn’t matter how many people came into my life and left this heart broken because I knew I would always have a father to pick up all my shattered pieces and love me whole again, no matter how irreparably broken I feel. And it didn’t matter how alone the people around me made me feel because I knew I would always have a mother to come home to and call my best friend.
Thank you, because I grew up thinking that there would always be two people in the world who cared about me more than anybody else.
Thank you because you, as my parents, have done so much more. You have both reminded me that no matter how far I go, I will always find joy in a mother’s touch and haven in a father’s embrace.
2.
Thank you for teaching me how to love. In a crowd, I’ve always been the one who always has her heart at her sleeves. Because you taught me to love. To give love. To be open and sincere with my emotions. To laugh. To cry. To smile. To be a good person in a world that causes pain.
To live a life sharing my gift to the world. To love the little things around me and take nothing for granted. You taught me how to love my dreams. You taught me how to love my friends and even my enemies. You taught me how to love music and art. You taught me how to love without reservations.
You taught me to love myself. This imperfect daughter, friend and sibling. The person that I am today. You showed me that I can be loved by anyone. Because you loved me, regardless of who I am. And for that, I will forever be indebted to you.
Thank you, Mom and Dad. I don’t say it out loud all the time, but I’m watching you now laughing at my little brother’s silly joke and you look like angels. You truly are.
3.
Thank you for simply being here. For allowing to make your presence known every single day. I cannot even begin to describe how grateful I am that I still have both of my parents here, alive and well.
Some kids no longer do. Some have theirs living miles and miles away from them. Some have never even seen theirs in their lifetime. I, on the other hand, still have you both. And I know that there are days when it may seem like I take that for granted, but know that I will always truly treasure all the times that you are here with me.
4.
Thank you for all your sacrifices. I have the slightest idea what you’ve been through, but I am proud of you. It must be so tough to raise your own child when you are children yourselves. You took on the responsibility at such a young, crucial age, and even I cannot comprehend how difficult it must have been for the both of you.
But you took the risk and you went out there into the world only to become the best parents no one ever imagined you’d become.
I am proud of all the battles you’ve won and even the ones you lost in. I am proud of the persons you both have become because of the challenges you faced, all the mountains you conquered, the rivers you crossed and the bridges you burnt. You proved everyone wrong and raised us like champions.
5.
Thank you for all the little things you do. Thank you for cooking for me and my siblings. Thank you for buying me clothes even when I didn’t need new clothes. Thank you for carrying me to bed when I was still a little girl because I fell asleep on the couch watching my favorite TV show. Thank you for driving me to school in middle school. Thank you for staying up through the night just to wait for me to arrive home safe when I was in high school. Thank you for struggling to wake up early on a weekday only to prepare me breakfast.
Thank you for watching over me and my siblings as we grew up. Thank you, because I always felt protected and taken care of. Never have I once thought I was in a state of harm within the four walls of the house. Thank you because you did all those things even when I never even asked you to.
