Raising up by my grandparents from 6 months to 5 years old, I experienced the absence of parents in my childhood. Also, I lived with my grandparents until my elementary school graduation. For me, they've been an irreplaceable part of my life, and their love for me is the thing that I've never doubted. Reciprocally, I respect them all through my life, not only as my most important family, but also as two role models. Here are three reasons that grandparents are the best and most influential people in my life, and in most of your guys' too.

1. Their support is unconditional.

I always assumed that my grandparents should have "generation gaps" with me, because they're much older. However, it's the opposite. For my grandma, I found she's even more open-minded than my parents. Being one of the surgeons in my family, unlike my mom, she never pushed me to study medical-related field. When I brought up the idea of being a sociology major, my parents were the ones who firmly disagreed, because from their perspective, a pure social science degree has no value. However, my grandma has seen my passions for reading and writing since a very early age, and she knows I'm capable of being a qualified sociologist who will contribute to society in the future. In this case, she joined me and helped me persuade my parents who were stubborn on my future career choice. I really appreciate her being understanding and supporting me unconditionally on whatever my decisions are.

2. You can be yourself: no need to hide that lazines" of yours.

Whenever I slept over at my grandparents' house or went to visit them, they never asked me to assist. What they told me to do was always laying on the coach, watching Netflix or hanging with my cousins. They never let me step into the kitchen and would do all the cooking part by themselves.

3. They play the "soft roles" in your life.

Although I didn't stay with my parents when young, we are still pretty close. But the topics we talk about remain more serious: internship, my dad's business, my mom's career or my future. I would define my relationship with my parents as "best friends" because of our close, yet special connection. Additionally, my dad has been super strict to me, and there're tons of things that I'm not allowed to do. Even though it would help me build up a relatively calming character, I barely had fun like other kids when I was in high school. On the contrary, my grandparents are quite different. They never spoil me, but they still play the "soft roles" in my life. They cooked all of my favorite dishes when I was tired of my high school homework; they came to talk to me when they noticed I was overwhelmed by my HP internship, because I was in charge of a newly investing project's advertising; they would show their concerns when I went back from a 140 mile high school walking camp. They truly make me feel that I'm always surrounded by love.