Mom and Dad,

I want to start this off by saying thank you. Thank you for those times I was bawling my eyes out in my room and you came in to cheer me up. Thank you for pushing me to make the right decisions when it comes to schools and majors. Thank you for always supporting me through every stupid and rebellious choice that I've ever made. You were always there for me whenever I was going through highs or lows. You supported me through mental struggles and drama with friends, through stupid trouble with boys and my random rants about school. You've allowed me to grow into my own person, even if that person causes you to sprout a few grey hairs here and there. You supported me through crazy hair dye and hair cuts, through the piercings and tattoos that I just kind of showed up with. (Sorry about those). You payed thousands of dollars to support me through my volleyball career, taking me to tournaments and helping me through every single injury I had, and there were a lot. You helped me through school always telling me to study and do my homework, even though that really rarely happened. You let me make my own mistakes and learn from them on my own.

You raised me to be independent enough to survive on my own but family oriented enough to still want to come home and see you guys constantly. You've allowed me to travel the world and experience so many new places and cultures making me more aware of what goes on in other peoples lives besides mine. You've raised me to be knowledgeable about politics and the things that happen in our country and made sure I knew that if I wanted to make a change, I could do that. You’ve watched me go through my different phases of life and supported me through every single one of them. Even though there were a few times in my life where I just thought you were the absolute worst, mainly when you made me move to a new state the year before high school but bygones. I thought that your goal was just to completely ruin my life and make me miserable, but as I’ve gotten older I realize that anything you’ve done for me, you did with my best interest at heart.

Thank you for helping me through every obstacle I've ever faced and being there for me even when it seemed like I didn't want it. You’ve watched me grow and mature into the person that I am today. If it wasn't for you I know things would have been way different and I'm thankful that they aren't. From a little tyke in Washington to a college girl in Georgia to whatever the future has in store for me, even though it doesn't seem like it, I’ll always be you're little girl.