I am not a morning person. I am a “snoozed the alarm three times and now have five minutes to get out the door” person. So naturally, my favorite part of the week throughout high school has been late arrival. 

Despite my keenness for the snooze button, the best part of late arrival is not extra sleep. The additional half hour is nice, but what I really love is the sense of independence I feel. The routine I have crafted, having the house to myself, cooking a real breakfast and an unrushed drive to school are what I look forward to. 

There is only one thing I dislike about late arrival: the coffee.

Every other weekday, my dad makes me a coffee and leaves it on the table for me to grab as I rush out the door. By the time my morning slows down enough for me to take my first sip, it has cooled to the perfect temperature. I still drink coffee on late arrival, but something is never quite right.

There have been multiple instances when I have made myself a coffee but forgot about it, not realizing my mug was still sitting on the machine until I was almost at school. Other times, I have been impatient and burned my tongue by taking a sip too soon. Some days I resort to buying a coffee from the school cafe, but it is just not as good as my dad’s.

During these late arrival mornings, I often find myself looking forward to college. I crave the independence and the ability to determine my own routine. While I am excited for an existence not limited by a curfew, permission to take the car and my Life360 location, my unsatisfactory late arrival coffee reveals that I am still quite dependent on my parents. 

My mom is the one who calls the dentist to schedule my appointments. I steal her clean socks when I am behind on laundry. As I go off to college and become more independent, I am sure more of the ways I have subtly relied on my parents will reveal themselves. So although I am eager to begin the next chapter of my life, by taking time to express gratitude to my parents now, I hope not to lose sight of all that my family has done to help me succeed. 

So thank you, late arrival, for the taste of independence. But more importantly, thank you to my parents for the years of ride giving, appointment scheduling, sock sharing, homework helping and all of the support I will inevitably realize made my high school experience a little smoother. And of course, thank you, Dad, for the coffee.