Parents, within the next few weeks you will watch us — your children — graduate from colleges and universities around the world. Though we are the new college graduates, you are the ones who should feel the greatest sense of accomplishment. You built homes, created families, and became extraordinary role models. You’ve encouraged us to mature and mold ourselves into the beings we strive to be today — the doctors, lawyers, teachers and authors this world has yet to see. In many ways we have already succeeded because of your care, your advice and your encouragement. Not to mention your help paying the bills.

You watched tiny, football-sized infants who could barely open their eyes grow into intelligent adults capable of fluently reading the world. You nursed us when we were sick, clothed us, fed us, gave us a place to live and facilitated that growth. Whether we have ever spoken out in anger or even rarely spoke at all, know that we recognize what you have done for us and we are immensely grateful.

It won’t be long until we become parents, watching our newborns transform into students and then graduates. If we could do for them the fraction of the good you have done for us, they will surely grow up to become outstanding adults.

We are elated in this time of graduation to have achieved such an accomplishment, and you are in our hearts no matter where we flee to in this world. The abiding truth is that you can never sufficiently repay your parents for all that they have done for you. And though there is little we can do, we will try our best to pay you back, in our future accomplishments, deeds and endeavors.