Dear Mom and Dad,

Thank you, thank you so much. And I'm sorry, so very sorry.

You know that I am grateful for the big things- feeding me, clothing me, taking care of me, raising me. You know I am eternally thankful for the years and years you spent supporting me. At least I hope you know that. But there are other things I am grateful for. Thank you for sharing your margaritas with me at dinner, for not being too mad when I told you that I never went to ACT practice. Thanks for letting too many teenagers sleep in our basement. Mom, thanks for breaking the Easter chocolate out of its hiding place early because I had a craving. Dad, thanks for letting me go to that protest and for understanding my aversion to social situations. Thanks for sitting on folding chairs with me watching drunk white people on fourth of July, thanks for listening to WGCI. Mom, thanks for remembering what its like to be a teenager and knowing how to navigate. Thanks for adjusting when the MS makes things difficult.

But also I am sorry. Really, very sorry. You are the first people I have seriously wronged, I think. I have been trying to be better lately, more honest. I am sorry for the lies I told. I am sorry for being rude and standoffish. I am sorry for every time I cursed you under my breath. I am forever sorry and ashamed of my "summer excursion" as mom calls it. I didn't know. I wish I could have kept you two safe from all the things going on with my head last year, but I think by attempting that I made it worse on everyone. I am sorry that I tried to protect you, because now I realize that it is your job to protect me. I am sorry for the future worry I am going to cause you. The next few years will be full of worry. But it will be okay, I will get through it and one day I will have a stable job and you can stop worrying a bit.

Thank you for giving me a reason to stay when I didn't want to.

Your Daughter.