My Occasional Introspective

Today I had a tremendous insight. For me entire life I had battled the notion that every child will thank their parents later in spite of what sort of relationship they may have had growing up. My conflict with this accepted colloquialism ranged past the occasional exception; the child who was raised by drunks, the child who was raised in the system and had no parent to thank. No, instead I had always been of the opinion that children could not truly thank and appreciate the efforts of their parents because they didn't have a context to judge them against. They never would, even if they had kids of their own because the experience is unique to the people involved.

So today, while walking my dog, I realized that was not the true reason. Yes, I do not believe anyone can ever truly conceive or appreciate the efforts of their parents. However, I do think that people have the capacity to accept and convey reverence for something, as obscure or arbitrary as it may be. So what, in my opinion, is going to really obstruct my ability to appreciate the efforts of my parents? I think the reason is that, at the end of things, what I do with my life will define my and my family.