All the things I don't know about

I’ve always (well, since college anyway) known that there have been countless sacrifices and achievements that Mom and Dad gave to us that I’d never be aware of and never quite figure out. As I enter the world of parenting myself, I feel it even more. What tough decisions were they faced with that I’ll never know of? What long nights and exhausting days did they go through, but not describe to us? What pet peeves did we aggravate them with that they refrained from nagging us about?

I used to do an activity with the student leaders I worked with. I gave them a piece of paper with "Gratitude" written on one side, and asked them to write down all the things they did for other students and for other staff members that they felt were not recognized. Then I gave them a piece of construction paper and they glued that sheet to the construction paper, hiding what they had written, but leaving the word "Gratitude" framed for them to see. I told them that there are a lot of things worth doing that people may not thank us for--but they should value the ability to feel the gratitude even if others don't take time to express it.

I hope Mom & Dad feel that gratitude from us--even for those things we didn't know, don't realize, or forgot to mention.