The two most influential people in any person’s early life are their parents. Nothing sets the foundation for a great life like great parents. Nothing makes great parents like a great love.

A love so great you promised one another, “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.” That’s a big promise. One that can’t fully be understood until you begin to live it out. Us kids gave you a run for your money. We won’t let you forget the brawls, the bickering, the gashes, the rashes, that time there was a tooth stuck in someone’s back, the hospital visits, the tantrums, the skipped chores, the prank wars, the disrespect, the sneaking out…

You not only passed our tests with flying colors but continued to grow with one another despite our chaos. Throughout the years of madness having children, you managed to teach us more lessons than I knew was possible.

You’ve taught us to “stand tall like a tree,” unashamed to defend what we believe in. You’ve taught us how to balance work and play, but also our checkbooks. You’ve taught us that kindness never goes unwelcomed. You’ve taught us to never overstay our welcome and always say “thank you.” You’ve taught us not to overstep our boundaries but to challenge them. You’ve taught us to always look out for our best interest but not to forget about our friends. You’ve taught us that no matter how much we fight, no other people in this world will be guaranteed to be by our sides through it all than the pains in the neck we call our siblings.

You’ve even taught us you can teach us all of this without us knowing. I never knew how much you’d taught me until I left home and had to tap into the secret wealth of knowledge you had been depositing in me all these years.

You didn’t move to Australia when we were with the babysitter, or never pick us up from soccer practice, or sell us on the black market like you so often threatened to do. Most importantly you never turned the car around on our way to vacation regardless of how much trouble we were starting in the back…

But you also didn't choose a career that would pull you away from raising our family. You never let your frustration keep you from being there when we needed you, even if we didn't want you.� You never kept us from our mistakes but you never stood so far away as to not catch us when we fell. You never went to bed without checking in on us. You never let a day go by without reminding us that you love us.

I’m so thankful for the both of you and for your love. I’m thankful I don’t need to rely on you for every little thing because of every little thing that you’ve taught me. You’ve set me up so well in life that when it was time to fly the nest, I could. As we begin to build nests of our own you two finally get to take a break from worrying about us, though I know you never will, and enjoy each other more. Instead of leaning on you for help I get to spend more time enjoying the people you are.

But should I need you I look to my side and see you’ve never left. If I could go back I would change absolutely nothing about my life aside from not thanking you more for everything you’ve done for me for the past two decades. We spend years wishing our parents would get off our backs, only to realize they’re the only ones who ever really had them.

In an age where divorce is all too common a solution, no relationship has ever given me more faith in love. I see it every day I’ve been alive: constant, exponentially growing love and it warms my heart. Keeping your lo�ve alive while raising us must couldn't have been the easiest, so we beg you to finally leave us behind and take yourselves to Australia. I love you both forever and always; thank you, Mom and Dad.