Thank your parents for staying.

Thank your mother for her forgiveness,

your father for his sacrifice.

Thank them for the steady home,

for the door that was always open.

Forgive them for what they didn’t know then.

Forgive them for being young,

while you were difficult.

Forgive the pain they never meant,

the wounds they didn’t realize you would carry.

For some stories, you weren’t meant to hear,

but you felt them anyway.

For reasons you couldn’t comprehend,

yet somehow still, a reason.

Because life challenged them,

just as it challenges us.

And as you are praying,

they were praying too,

for you to choose

a better path than what they had.

Now you know;

as parents,

how human we are.

How tired a body can be,

in mind and in bone.

How sometimes

even love can burst into anger.

Still,

thank them for their partnership,

in whatever way they agreed upon.

You were once

their baby,

their longing.

And you are always will.