Giving Thanks

I’ve never really told my family what I’m thankful at the table on Thanksgiving, but I guess here is a good place to start. 

I’m extremely thankful for all of the things in my life I can just take for granted. A decent education, an air conditioner and heater, a car, food on my plate every single day (3 times a day), clean water, the list honestly goes on and on. Obviously, I’ll properly thank my parents for being able to purchase and provide these things for me in the next paragraph, but I think that the people who made all these essentials deserve some credit first. I can’t imagine how my life would be like without all the technology in this day and age. I also can’t imagine what it must have been like trying to be the first one to invent these things, it seems much harder than just building on an already existing idea.

Anyways, back to my parents. I’m especially thankful for all the effort my dad has put in to give me everything I needed and more. Coming from my dad, it really means a lot because I know he was poor as a child in Chile, which didn’t leave him many opportunities other than school. The fact that he studied extremely hard to get the opportunity just to come to the U.S. and get his PhD to be able to get a job to give me a more than average life is very motivating and humbling at the same time when I think about my situation in school. I complain about the smallest things pretty frequently in school to my dad, but instead of scolding me and comparing me to his experiences, he’s patient and understanding and gives me relative advice based off of his life. 

Although it’s related to school in some ways, my dad has been a huge part of building my character. If I didn’t have a dad that cared about me, I’d probably be even lazier than I already am and probably wouldn’t make it anywhere in life as going through college and even holding a minimum wage job would be hard. That being said, my dad doesn’t force me into anything, he still gives me enough freedom in my academics and life in general. In general, my dad is my motivation because I want to achieve something that he can be proud of, and also I think he’s a pretty good model of what I want to strive to be in the future. I’m thankful for the fact that I have someone that can play that role in my life. 

I don’t mean to downplay my mom by any means, but my parents definitely play different roles in my life. While my dad is more about character and necessities, my mom has taught me much more kindness and spoiled me much more. Not only do I have food on my plate everyday, but it’s food that I love eating thanks to my mom. My mom also somehow never gets angry with me, which is a quality that I wish I gained from my mother, because even the smallest little itches and inconveniences annoy me and put me in a bad mood. On school projects or when I’m very late into the early hours of the morning, my mom never scolds me for it, but offers to help in any way she can and makes me tea and toast. Even though it’s the simplest thing, it’s just as meaningful to me as anything my dad has done for me. 

In combination, I’m thankful for everything my parents have done to raise me. Even through all the tough times, looking back at it, I wouldn’t change a thing.