Dear mom and dad,

Where do I even begin? I’m not sure how I’m supposed to write a letter of thanks in a few short paragraphs, because even the word, “thanks," is not enough to express my gratitude towards you. I can’t even begin to explain to you how important it is to me that I got blessed with parents that gave me such a perfect life. Of course, perfection is a pretty broad word. Nothing can really be “perfect.” There have definitely been ups and downs regarding the perfect vision of parents to children, but my definition of perfection in this sense is that I have never experienced more love than I do through you. I can’t even understand the love you have for me. It is such a far-fetched concept because only parents really know what it’s like to experience unconditional love for their children. I wish I knew how strong that love is, but it’s satisfying enough hearing you say it to me every chance that you get. At least I know that it will never slip your minds, even though I already know how much you love me throughout all of the reminders. I guess what I am trying to say is thank you, for giving me everything that you could so I could live a fulfilling life.

Of course I am only 21-years-old. These 21 years seemed to have moved as slowly as they went by. But now looking back, I can’t believe how fast my life is moving. You must feel as though it went by fast directly from the start. Starting from the beginning, my whole life was ahead of me. You knew that the next eighteen years would be devoted to me and my sister. But can you believe how fast those eighteen years flew by? I never thought college would come so quickly. Not only did 18 come and go, but 21 is already moving away from me too. Due to the fear of life moving quickly, I know I can always look to you for guidance and direction. I know I can ask for advice when I feel like obstacles are coming at me from every direction and I’m stuck in one spot. I feel as though I have been on this earth forever, and yet I don’t know anything. The real wisdom lies with you, because you have done more, seen more, experienced more and learned more. I strive to life my life the way that you do. If I turn out even half as strong and intelligent as you, then I know I will be successful.

This letter is dedicated to saying thank you. As I said before, no amount of thanks is enough to describe my gratitude towards you. Thank you for dealing with me when I was a picky eater and I literally would only eat frozen chicken nuggets and white rice. Thank you for putting up with all my temper tantrums, including when I decided to get out of my stroller and run away at sea world, giving you a heart attack. Thank you for waking me up every morning during pre-school and elementary school with a nice breakfast and an outfit laid out for me for the day. Thank you for supporting me when I wanted to trying every single sport imaginable even though I ended up hating every single one of them. Thank you for supporting me when I found my love for music, and spent nine years pursuing it. It was expensive and I can’t believe you would spend that kind of money just to make me happy. But now I realize how much money you spent on me just to make me happy for every single thing that I do/did. College is crazy expensive. Same with food, clothes and even that car I crashed a few years ago. I stupidly crashed a car but you fixed it because I was a stupid teenager who makes mistakes and you still loved me. (I’m still so sorry about that, by the way.)

I feel as though I am rambling, because I do not know how to thank you for everything. I just want you to know how appreciative I am. Even if I don’t seem like I’m appreciative, I am. I think about you every single day. I always hope that you are having a good week, even if jobs can get in the way of that sometimes. I always hope that you don’t think I love my home in Jacksonville more than my real home in Orlando. When I’m in Orlando, I feel so much warmth and nostalgia that I never want to leave. I love all of the family vacations that we go on, because it is a time where we all escape the reality of life together and have an amazing time. We’ve seen so many great things together, from the mountains in Tennessee to the beautiful beaches in Hawaii. I wouldn’t trade those vacations for anything, and I always look forward to going on more. I think my favorite vacation that we always go on is just visiting relatives and friends. I think it is so refreshing to be able to spend time away from reality with even more love surrounding us. I feel so blessed to have been born into such a large family. Every time I go on a trip without you, I think about how much you would love where I am. Dad, when I was in Maine, I couldn’t help but think of you when I was hiking in Acadia National Park looking for a hiking stick, or when I would walk past the marina in Bar Harbor. Mom, I can’t help but think of you no matter where I am in the world, because every time I visit a gift shop, of course I have to get you a Christmas ornament.

You mean more to me than anything else in the world. I thank God every day for blessing me with a family like you. I am blessed in every aspect of my life and I love being able to share that with you. I don’t even know how to end this letter because I honestly think I could write forever. The more I write, the more thoughts that enter my head. I’ll just end it by saying I love you.