“Nineteen-ninety-four, you held me so close, you said you felt my heart beat. “My fur-ball” is what you would whisper into my ears, while I, stared at your face and into those eyes. Daddy, upon seeing us together, would fight you so hard that you’d end up with a pillow each time in your arms.

Two-thousand sixteen, I wake up each morning in the hope to find you lying next to me, just to realize it could only be in my fantasy. It’s two thousand sixteen and you are 8000 miles away.”

College has been great but what isn’t so great is that I am in a land full of unknown while you are poles apart back home.

I have pretty much everything that a girl in her 20s might want. I shop at Sephora 5 days a week, almost as though it’s no big deal. I travel states like I own them. Since you have made it a point to keep my credits chock-full, I have been living like a free bird. No societal pressure to bring me down, no norms and rules to keep me tied. I do whatever, whenever I can and just the way I want. I have all the freedom one could ask for. I have it all except for what I would really like to have, YOU.

Mom and Dad, this one’s for you, a tiny compensation for all those times I have hurt you, for all those years I thought I was right and for all the times I never apologized. This is to make up for all the past years I haven’t appreciated you enough, for all the 22 years I took you for granted.

So here goes…

Thank you, Ma. Thank you for understanding my cravings for food. Thank you for realizing my passion for dance. Thank you for understanding how important it was for me to have the nicest dress at a party. Thank you for the times you stood up for me from the sidelines. Thank you for all those times when I wasn’t kind enough but you never complained. Thank you for literally taking the fall for me. THANK YOU, for the night when you jumped into the fire to save my admission ticket. THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS BELIEVING IN ME. Thank you for being such a strong support system for this family. Thank you for being so kind, thank you for being my mother.

Thank you, Daddy. Thank you for giving me a fairytale childhood. Thank you for all the times you held my hand through the toughest of storms. Thank you for constantly reminding me of what I am capable of. Thank you for telling me I am no less of a human for being a woman. Thank you for being so strict with the home rules. Thank you for teaching me that respect is to be earned.Thank you for spending those countless hours after you got home from work each night to teach me math. Thank you for showing me the importance of hard work. Thank you for making me realize the significance of honesty, thank you for telling me how imperative it is to be patient. Thank you for understanding when I take a leap of faith. Thank you for giving me the courage to fight the wrong and the will to figure out what’s right. Thank you for introducing me to the world as your right hand. Thank you for all the times you said you were proud of me. Thank you for being so strong, so wise and a man of your word. Thank you for teaching me more than the books could ever have and for showing me more than nature could ever unveil. Thank you for being the parent that you are. Thank you for being the person that I wish to be.

To the both of you, Mom and Dad, thank you for everything. Thank you for teaching me the importance of having a family. Thank you for teaching to love with an open heart. Thank you, thank you so much.

At every step of my life, I am trying to be YOU. I am trying to be the amazing people that you are, as successful as you have been as children to your parents, half as good as you are to the people around you and at least half as kind as you have been to me. I promise to be by you during the winters of your lives just the way you have been all through my life.

I love you both with every inch of my soul.I will always remember the sweat and tears that have gone into making me the person that I am today. No, I will not forget, not even for one slight second.

Sincerely,

Your Daughter.

PS: I am NEVER running off with a man unless you want me to.