Senior goodbye: Christina Parker

Dear Ketsia, Iva, and Cherubin,

Thank you for everything you have done for me since I was one month old, in Iva’s voice. I remember Cherubin would cook me eggs in the mornings with coffee before school or make bread and peanut butter. We would go outside in the back, planting flowers and riding on his bicycle as if my 7-year-old legs could reach the pedals. When “Dancing with the Stars” would come on, I would hide my head under the blanket, stretching my neck to look up at the TV and watch it before falling asleep. Moving to Mom’s made me realize how fortunate I had been to have you all care for me like your daughter and not a distant relative.
Ketsia, you are more my sister than a godmother or cousin. You have done and continue to do so much for me; I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and forever appreciate you. When I buy my first car, aka Boat, you will be my first passenger and we will have carpool karaoke on our way to Hershey Park.

Iva, you are the candle that warms my heart whenever I am down or sick. You constantly remind me to pray to God about my struggles instead of him watching from afar. One day we will make a list of all the food you have made for us and on holidays, then you will give me the recipes for them and tips on how to season the meat properly and how much rice I should cook.

Cherubin, thank you for ordering Chinese food almost every day to the point where the owner could recognize my face and ask me about school. Thank you for taking me to get water ice or ice cream around the corner on hot summer days. Thank you for cooking eggs with coffee in the morning and bread and peanut butter when I came home from school.

I am eternally grateful to you all and will make sure to visit you every month and holiday — seriously, I will try. You have made my life so much better I could never repay you but to be successful in your name.