My new year's resolution

My new year's resolution, simply put, is to go back home and see my parents at least once in 2010. It may sound lame, but I hold it dearly to my heart.

I left home for college when I was still a teenager. At that time, life for the first time was not under the protective wings of my dear dad and mom. There were so many new things and excitements that lured me off. I never hesitated and never looked back, well, at least for a long while. Unbeknown to myself, I drifted away, far far away before I realized it. More than half of my life now is away from my parents. It seems that my parent's hair was suddenly white from yesterday. They are frailer than I was used to. There is more hopefulness sometimes even begging in their eyes now when they saw me off. They no longer check my homework, they don't tell me what to do. All they want now is to be with me, to know where I am and to chat a few words once in a while. Yet, this is becoming next to impossible.

My parents were sent to China's great west in those unprecedented times. They endured so many difficulties to give me a home. I never felt close to their hometown. I grew up where I was and could not comprehend why they tried so hard to move back to their hometown. Once, I even naively asked if they can leave me behind to my friends, my school and my world. Now, for at least one thing I do know, they came home for their roots, for my grand parents while there was still time.

So many times, I had tried to find excuses to ease my anxiety. "I am a drifter", I said to myself. No more I can. I am in the same shoes as my parents were.

So to all my friends here, and to all drifters like me, I say, go home in 2010, at least once, for our parents.