A Thanksgiving Thought

I love my Mum.  This whole month, whenever I'm wandering around the house looking lost or lazy, the first words out of her mouth are not "Don't you have homework to do?" but "Don't you have some NaNoWriMo to do?"

My parents have supported me from day one on the whole wanting to write thing.  I've always known that I would be studying English when I got to college, though my goals are less to be an author and more to have a career doing the things I love - which has always been my parents philosophy.  Bekah wants to be a music major?  Fine.  She had better practice - she had better really want it - and she had better understand what that will mean in terms of future lifestyle, but we'll support her.  You want to be an author?  We can see that you love to read and write (from the moment you could talk you were telling stories!) and so long as I continued to write and be enthusiastic about words my parents never said I was being silly.  When Bekah changed her major, they supported her - cautioned her against making rash decisions - but encouraged her to make sure that, whatever she was doing, she was doing what she loved.  And you can tell; she loves what she's doing.  I'm sure whatever Philip chooses to study, my parents will be right behind him, as long as they know his heart and motivations are in the right place.

So, when I first did National Novel Writing Month back in 2008, Mum did not say much, except "Don't stress yourself out" (I was really sick then), and "It's okay to give up if you can't manage."  But if she found me watching Scrubs when I was alert and coherent enough to be writing?  "Don't you have your novel to work on?"  Same with the next year.  And this year, even though I'm actually in school now and have other commitments that are supposed to come first.

Speaking of those commitments that are supposed to come first, I've yet to do any of my homework for this Thanksgiving break.  But I've written nearly 8,000 words in the past two days - at the encouragement of my Mum.

So, all this to say, I'm thankful for the way my parents raised me.  I'm not perfect, and I'm sure they're not either - but they allow me to do what I love, and more than just allow, they support and encourage me in it.