Thankful Tuesday: My Parents

I’ve always been thankful for my parents.  However, a couple of recent events in the lives of people who I’m close to realized how truly lucky I really am.  My parents are not even close to being perfect.  They’ve made their fair share of mistakes, just like every other parent and person on this Earth.  But they’ve done plenty of things for me and my siblings that I’m realizing not every other parent in this world does.  And for these reasons, I’m extremely thankful.

1. Paid my way through college:  I graduated almost a year ago from a small, private, liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere, West Virginia.  I was accepted into two out of three of the schools where I applied, and this private college was more pricey than the other one that I was accepted into.  My parents told me to not let the prices affect my decision and that I should go wherever I wanted to and we would figure out the financial decisions after.  One specific college offered me a $9,000 merit scholarship each year, on top of several other grants and another in state scholarship special to West Virginia.  Those lowered the cost of tuition by more than half, so we covered the last half with loans and some help from my parents.  Now my parents didn’t have to help me pay for school, but they did, even on top of paying for my sister’s loans that they took out to help pay.  During school, I met many people who didn’t have the luxury of having any help from their parents, or just a slim amount, and that’s when I realized I’m so lucky to have parents who are willing to help out as much as they possibly can.
2. My dad took out his retirement money to help me: Continuing on with the topic of money, my mom quit her job the summer before my senior year at college.  She was mistreated and overworked, and the job was practically killing her anyway, so it’s both a good and bad thing that she’s not working there any longer.  She didn’t have a job lined up when she quit, nor did she ever find one, so that made it tough on my dad who made twice as less than my mom made.  She was the breadwinner of the family, and my dad had to somehow figure out how to support our family on barely a $30,000-$40,000 income.  Before my final semester at my college, we received a letter about how much money I owed the school, and how I would need to pay it before I was allowed to start my spring semester classes.  I freaked out.  I didn’t want money to be the reason I couldn’t finish college, especially when I only had a semester left.  We thought there was something we could do with financial aid, since my situation had changed (aka my mom losing her job when she was the breadwinner of the family and my dad somehow trying to figure out how to pay my tuition on top of paying the bills and buying food in order to survive), but since we had already turned in the financial aid application, there was nothing they could do.  We even tried to get my dad’s dad to cosign on a loan with me, but that fell through as well because he wouldn’t sign anything electronically and that was the only way it would work.  My dad, being as selfless and amazing as he is, decided to take out his retirement money to pay off my final semester.  He didn’t have to, but he did, because he wanted me to be able to pursue my dreams, which unfortunately can only be done with a college degree nowadays.  I don’t know many other people who would give up their retirement money just to help out their kid, but I’m so fortunate for my dad to do that for me so I could continue on working toward my dreams.
3. They’re always there for me: I know several people who can’t count on their parents for anything, and I’m lucky to have ones that will always have my back.  There was a time in December when I lost faith in ever finding a job.  I was beginning to think that I would be stuck at a catering company/part-time job for the rest of my life, barely making enough money to pay my loans, let alone bills that I still haven’t taken on (but will need to once I start making a set salary at my new job).  I called my parents hysterically crying, ranting about everything that was setting me back from my dreams, and my dad just kept telling me that these were little roadblocks and that things would start looking up if I just stayed positive.  He explained that it’s difficult to stay positive in these times, especially because he knows that I need the money and they can’t do anything to help since they’re barely scraping by, but eventually something would come around and I’d be right back up on my feet again.  He also said that taking a full-time job that wasn’t in my field isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  It’ll give me experience and more money to live comfortably.  I can also keep looking for my dream job while I work at a full-time job so I don’t give up on my dreams.  He explained that I’m only 22, so just because I’m not where I want to be yet doesn’t mean I won’t get there and that I still have the rest of my life ahead of me.  All of this was difficult to understand because he ended up getting stuck at a job where he still is after 25 years and he hates it, but he told me that as long as I keep pushing toward my dreams, I’ll get there.  I wouldn’t have calmed down without his advice, and I wouldn’t have taken a job at a law firm without it, either, because I would still be close-minded to jobs only in my field.  It might take me a while to get to my dream job, but at least I’ll be making money in the process of getting there.  But anyway, I know that whenever I need to talk to my parents, they’ll always be there to listen to me and I’m very thankful for that.
4. They’re helping me move:  Basically, I moved up to Pennsylvania a while ago, but I didn’t want to change my address and everything until I got a full-time job in the state.  Because I have that full-time job now, I need to change my address, get a new ID, get my license plate changed, get my car inspected, etc. etc. etc.  I never realized how much of a pain it was to move, and now I’m slowly realizing that it’s a lot of work.  In order to get my car inspected, I have to get new tires because they’re so dull that they wouldn’t pass inspection.  My parents are in the process of selling their house and in order to close on that house but until it closes, they have still been paying the mortgage.  They offered after it closes and they get some money, they would be willing to help pay for any fees I may encounter while switching everything over and also to help pay for new tires.  I have some friends whose parents leave them up to figure everything out on their own, so I’m especially thankful that my parents still offer to help until I start making a good salary so I can pay for everything on my own.

There are plenty of other reasons why I’m thankful for my parents, but these are the big ones that are currently prevalent in my life.  I hope that anyone who reads this will appreciate their parents for everything that they’ve done for you.  And if your parents haven’t done anything for you, I hope that you’re thankful for someone in your life who has at least helped you find your footing to get set on the right path.