A Message of Thanks

I took my parents to a walk in the park today. It was supposed to be just for sight-seeing and maybe a little exercise, but it turned out to be one bonding experience. We started talking about how much sacrifice there is to having a baby and my mom ended up musing over how we were being cared for when we were little.

I may never be able to put into enough words what my parents have done to make me feel indebted to them for the rest of my life. We were an average family--my father was a manager of a small financing company and my mother a housewife, who at the same time was running a small family business for some extra income. They didn't earn much so we didn't have the luxury of material possessions that other people had. But we were happy. My parents were able to send us to one of the best schools in the city and despite being around wealthy children all the time, they made sure we did not feel inferior.

There were times when we would envy our friends and wished we had what they had. There were even times when we would ask our parents "why didn't you just become a nurse or an engineer so you could go abroad and we would have plenty of money?" Other times, we would ask them "if you can hardly afford it, why did you send us to these expensive schools?"

But my parents knew what was essential to life. They would always remind us that we had enough, and that we were better off than they were when they were growing up. My parents always told us that we should work hard and take advantage of education so when we get older and have families of our own, we can do better than them and we can give our kids more than what they could give us.

Needless to say, they instilled in us the values of contentment, togetherness and integrity, which as I now fully comprehend, are way more important than money.

I guess I'll never be what I am now if my parents didn't raise me the way that they did, and I can never thank them enough. So I plan to spend the rest of my life making them aware of how much they have accomplished. They are the kind of parents that any child should wish for. And how very lucky I am that I am their child!

TO MA AND PA:

When I think of all the things you have done

the ways in which you care

I am filled with so much gratitude

and pride that is always there

I seldom take the time to tell you

how much you really mean to me

So now I’m telling you what’s in my heart

“I wish I can be even half as good a parent as you are to me!”

I love you dearly!