Don’t get ahead of me.
I’m not, nor am I soon to be, a parent.
As a child though, I definitely think that I have an
interesting perspective on parenting, and, as mentioned before, I’ve had a lot
of time to reflect on the impact my parents have made on me. Hearing my friend’s own stories and listening
to my responses to her questions has only made me realize more how much I’m
like my parents. That’s a scary thing to
admit.
As a child (teenager), you spend your days thinking how much
better of a parent you could be than the ones that you have. You dream of the ways that you will be
different and list the multitude of ways in which you are ‘unlike’ your own.
When you become a ‘young adult,’ you tend to stop all
that. New freedoms allow you to be the
person that you really are. As I’ve
begun to really discover that person, I hear myself speak sometimes and look
around for my parents. When I realize
that they aren’t there, I begrudgingly come to the conclusion that I’m just
like them.
As I told my friend about my family, I recognized a lot of
things that I’m proud of – naturally accompanied by some things that I’m
not. It’s the positive aspects that I’ve
gained, however, that are my focus. Here
we go:
1. Perseverance – My
parents have had to deal with a lot.
While I won’t publish the details of every scenario, I have come to
recognize just how true this is over the past week. Not once have I seen my parents give up nor
have they allowed me to do so. When I
was young, Mom thought that I was destined to become some famous public
speaker. As a result, she put me in just
about every speech competition she could find.
I would write out my speech, we would go over it together, and then she
would make me stand in the living room in front of her and read it. While it was expected that I would practice
it once or twice, I always dreaded the end and hearing those words come out of
her mouth: “Do it again.” The example
seems trivial when writing, but I learned to persevere through that terrible
speech about Tigers, not because my mom genuinely wanted to hear it again but
because it made me better. I got
trophies out of the deal, and I finally appreciate it: the ability to get
through something not so fun to achieve something better.
2. Resilience – My
parents roll with the punches. From
being laid off, to facing trying family circumstances, to listening to my crazy
ideas about life, my parents go with the flow.
Thankfully, I have inherited this ability, and it really has contributed
to my current state of being. I can
remember being a child and stressing out about every detail of life. As I recently wrote, my parents always let me
know that “Things always work out.” I’m
thankful that I got this from them.
3. Selflessness –
I’ve watched my parents give up everything for me. From working overtime to simply going
without, my parents have sacrificed from the very beginning so that I can have
whatever it is that I want. Not once in
my life have I felt that I lacked anything, and its because of their selfless
nature. In my relationships, I have
noticed that I go all out for those whom I love. Few times have a denied a friend in need my
time or money. This quality is not mine,
however, it came straight out of my parents.
4. Comedy – All of my
friends at college are Facebook friends with my mom. Why, you ask?
Because they find her hysterical.
As her child, I tend not to, but they tell me that she’s hilarious. My dad has this ‘something’ that attracts
people to him. I’ve seen this quality
travel straight down the line from my grandmother – who knew every person in
town and comforted them through grieving – to my father and, finally, to me. Everyone says it, but we really should have a
T.V. show. Although a lot of the humor
is unintentional and is usually lost on most people, it makes for entertaining
gatherings. For example, my sister
recently announced that she is having a baby.
She did this using cookies that said, “I’m pregnant” that she gave to
family members for Mother’s Day. Upon
opening my mom’s cookie and reading the statement, she responded, “I’m not
pregnant!” Exhibit A.
5. Joy – My parents
are happy people. Having dealt with a
lot of difficult circumstances, my parents radiate joy. People tend to love them, and it’s because
their very presence is able to cheer them up.
I hope that throughout my life, this is one of the qualities that I hold on to. Being joyful is hard
sometimes, but somehow they manage to do it daily. I like to think that I’m this way too.
It’s when you remove yourself that you really appreciate
what you have. Today, I appreciate my
parents. More than they will ever
know.
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