Dear Mom and Dad,

As I get closer and closer to my “retirement” from football, I’ve been thinking a lot about the last four years. I’ve remembered all of the hardships that the team has gone through and all of the joys, but I haven’t forgotten about you guys.

Before there was anyone else, there were you two. You both have been supporting me and caring for me since the beginning of my life and that didn’t change when I made the really unexpected decision in 8th grade to play football, a sport I barely even understood at the time.

For the past four years you have supported me, patched up my many battle wounds, offered me advice, made me bag lunches and dinners, driven out to bring me equipment and dinners that I had forgotten, helped me do my stinky-ass laundry even though I insist that I do it myself. I am so grateful to you. Thank you so much for the supporting me in my endeavors over the past four years and don’t stop there; let’s see how long we can keep this “supportive parent” thing going, huh? It seems to work pretty well for all of us, minus the laundry part; you need to take a load off. I hope that when I’m a parent I can be half as great as the both of you.

Thank you so much for being there for me for the past four years. I know for a fact that my football experience would have been a lot different (and probably unbearable) if it weren’t for you two. See you on the gridiron, bro!
Love,
Sigma17, the eldest of your offspring
P.S. On a more general note, if at any time in the past of future I come off as ungrateful, selfish, or demanding, rest assured that it is not because I am ungrateful or selfish, rather I am frustrated because I have yet to find a way to thank you properly. Sometimes I get irritated at the fact that such a thing doesn’t exist; that I’ll never be able to completely repay you.