Ode to Mom and Dad

Travelling demands some honest reflection about who you really are - it's like looking in a huge 360 degree mirror that magnifies all aspects of your persynality. In all of my experiences, there really is nothing quite like it. Since the beginning of this journey, it was blatantly obvious what a product of my parents I am - most of the time, we don't admit this to ourselves, and when others point it out to us, we laugh, as if it's an insult. Let me be clear: without the straight-up unconditional love and support (that is sometimes unjustified considering what a mess I can be), great influences, and nobel guidance of my parents, I would have fallen flat on my face in Kenya. It is time to put some thanks in its due place.

I thought about doing this in an email to my parents, more privately, but feel like things like this need to be said more often - kids don't generally take time or put effort into thanking our parents, and that's a shame. So in my last official entry before leaving the African continent, I want to say thanks, Mom and Dad:

Thank you for not only telling me I can do anything I set my mind to, but believing that it's true. Even when it's not, having that type of insane confidence does wonders for my ability to get things done.

Thank you for making things like honor, faith, kindness, honesty, passion, and determination natural aspects of my character development. Without your positive influence and high expectations, I would never have the moral guidance to act in a way that I can curl up with at night. I am comfortable in what I do, how I act, because you instilled goodness in me.

Thank you for not taking my crap. Excessive complaining was not allowed in our household, in our family, and that did more for me than I could ever express - dealing with challenges in life, making them an opportunity for growth, is the only way to handle the tough stuff, and without that, I surely would have crumbled over here.

Thank you for teaching me the value of laughing at myself. There is just no other way to deal with consistent "stomach adjustment," communication breakdowns across language barriers, or falling on your face in front of 70 youth.

Thank you for letting me practice my ultra-independence, and not saying "I told you so" when it blows up in my face :) If I did not have the self-reliance gene, integrating into this new culture so well would have been entirely impossible.

Thank you for being excited to hear my voice, even for a few minutes. Even when I don't act like it, say it, or show it, having your support is the only way I could be so comfortable in Kenya, so determined. Making you proud is one of the best things I could ever ask for.

Thank you for letting me figure out who I am, and dealing with all the hypocrisy, liberal rants, 10-minute fads, and long amounts of time that always takes. I may never get there, but this process of finding a place in the world that I can be comfortable in, proud of, and impassioned about is one of the most important things I will ever do, and without the space and "ok, do what you have to do" mentality that you approach my random ideas with, I would have never done work in Louisiana or Indianapolis, never gone to Chatham, never come to Kenya - there would be a lot of 'nevers' on my life resume.

And thank you for doing all the things that I never thank you for. There are far to many to count, but thank you for arranging my loans for me so that I can come to Kenya but still pay for school; thank you for driving or flying half way across the country to help me pack my business or arrange for a new year; thank you for waking up in the middle of the night to answer a collect call from your daughter who is stranded in New York; thank you for keeping my fish tank passion alive, even when you know I dont have time for it; thank you for checking my bank balance and cell phone minutes because you know I'm an airhead. Thank you.

To my friends with children, even when we don't act like it, we appriciate all the crap you put up with in raising us - it's the most thankless and difficult job on the planet, hands down. To my friends with parents (note: that's all of you): thank them more often, whether face to face, on the phone, in a letter, or silently recognizing how great you are because of them.

I could not have done any of this without you, Mom and Dad. I love you.