Dear Mom and Dad,

In a few incredibly short weeks, I will be headed off to college to start a new chapter in my life. That also means another one will be ending. While it's an exciting time for me, saying goodbye to 18 plus years of my life will be a tough one to express, so I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for pretty much everything.

For over 18 years, you have been my rock, unyielding, steady, and always there. I am incredibly lucky that I have two amazing parents that have been able to be that rock on which I will build the rest of my life. Thank you for all of the lessons you have taught me from being polite to staying true to my beliefs to the best way to make a bowl of pasta. In just a few short years, you have taught me enough to last a lifetime. Although, I will be sure to come calling for more nuggets of knowledge when my quarter life crisis hits me while deciding to switch my major a dozen times before settling on one I enjoy.

Thank you for raising me to be a respectable young man. Despite all of my pushback through my teenage years, you were unwavering in you're insistence that I toe the line and abide by the rules you put forth whether they were deliberately stated or simply understood. As stubborn, agitated, mad, grumpy, glum, etc. as I have been, you showed nothing but love, whether it was tough love or more conventional, it takes special people and kind hearts to do what you have done. I cannot thank you enough for that dedication. I might have been blind to it at the time, but I must have really tried your patience, made you angry, irritated, you name it. Regardless, you never threw in the towel. You have stuck with me, and I will forever be grateful for that.

Whatever I have needed, whenever I needed it, whether it was convenient for you or not, you were always there with unconditional love. You were at every game and practice, my biggest supporters and at times my biggest critics through every success and each failure. Not every soon-to-be college freshman can say that, and I can't reiterate enough times how much that means to me. I can only hope to be one-tenth as good of a parent as you two have been for me. Hopefully I have and will continue to make you proud because you deserve nothing less. I don't tell you enough that I love you, but hopefully I have shown it in the way I carry myself in public, act politely, or any other aspect of my life that you have touched that is seen by everyone. Your fingerprints can truly be seen everywhere if someone were to look close enough.

I will end this letter the way I started it--by saying thank you--because without either of you, I wouldn't be one-half the person I am today, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.

With Love,

Your Soon-To-Be Freshman