An 18-year-old high school graduate decided to do something special to honor her parents on graduation day.
Without their love and sacrifices, Madeleine Tarin would not have had a future or a graduation day. In a touching post that went viral on social media, Tarin shared photos of her family, her graduation day at Chino Hills High School in California and her story of being born from a teen pregnancy, BuzzFeed News reports.
“We made it together,” Tarin wrote. “My mom was 15 while pregnant with me, she had me at 16. My dad was 17. … My parents were judged a lot during this time but stayed strong together.”
She said they both worked hard to provide for her and give her a loving home. She said her father got a full-time job in construction, and her mother finished her high school degree in 2000.
“They were determined to make it and provide me with a future,” Tarin continued. “Today, they have a strong, loving marriage. They purchased a beautiful home. My mom is a stay at home mom and my dad has a great career as a longshoreman. I have two little sisters that are following in my footsteps.”
Below the post, Tarin shared two photos. One shows her with her parents at her mother’s high school graduation ceremony. The other is a recreation of the photo during Tarin’s own graduation ceremony this summer.
She concluded: “My parents have always been my motivation to be successful in high school and now strive to do well in college. I couldn’t ask for a more loving, supportive family than the one God gave me. Yeah that’s right, we made it TOGETHER.”
Her heartfelt thanks to her parents has captured the attention of hundreds of thousands of people online through the inspirational group “Love What Matters.”
She told BuzzFeed that she had no idea her post would be so widely shared.
“At first, I just wanted to show my friends and followers I had a story that a lot of people didn’t really know about me and my main motive to why I’ve strived so hard to be successful in high school and will continue to strive in college,” she said.
