I grew up with two parents exhibiting remarkable strength in raising me. They loved and supported me in all my endeavors, and I consider that a great privilege. I understood that life wasn't always perfect, but for me, as a child, the world seemed pretty good.
It took becoming a parent myself to realize everything that a parent does for you. I believe that parents exhibit remarkable strength!
Parents do cry
You might never see it, but parents do cry. They cry when they are happy and when they are sad.
Parents cry when you are born, and they cry when you go to school and eventually go off to university. It is beautiful to see how you grow up.
Parents will sacrifice
Parents will sacrifice everything for you. They will sell themselves short of ensuring that you have food every day and clean clothes to wear. Parents show remarkable strength in their sacrifice.
Parents are constantly worried
The question racing through a parent's brain constantly is: is my child safe? Should I have put on a jacket for my child? How am I going to give my child the best? It takes an enormous amount of strength for a parent not to show how worried they are.
Parents will always love you
You will fight with each other and annoy each other from time to time, but your parents will always love you. Sometimes your words will hurt each other, but a parent will never stop loving you.
Parents are not perfect
Parents are far from perfect. You were placed in their hands without any manual or instructions. They had to follow their instincts, search for information, and get advice on how to raise you.
Your parents will make mistakes, but they will always have your best interest at heart. It takes remarkable strength from your parents to keep trying their best.
Parents love looking at you
Parents love looking at you. We can watch you sleep for hours. We can take a ridiculous amount of photos and videos.
Parents are so proud of you and everything you do. You don't have to be the best or win since you will always be perfect in their eyes.
It hurts to see you cry
It hurts to see you cry, and there are so many moments in your life that you do cry.
Every time you get vaccinated, you fall and hurt yourself when you have to go to school the first day when you have your first heartbreak. It takes so much strength to not cry with you every time.
Parents would do it all again, in a heartbeat
We can not explain this, but we will do it all again in a heartbeat. You are the reason that we get up in the morning, sometimes way too early when we actually still want to sleep.
It takes remarkable strength from your parents to keep going through the sleepless nights, the worry, the heartbreak, the sacrifice, and all the tears. Everything is, however, worth it when we see you smile.
