A letter to those with strict parents

I want to start off by saying, hang in there. I know it may seem like you are "trying to grow up too fast". That may be true, but I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with that. That is how we learn, even if your parents don't agree. Parents are parents, they never want to watch you leave...which is understandable. How could a baby they made, who they watched grow every phase, the baby that they once seen in diapers possibly leave so fast? It is a scary feeling if you put yourself in those shoes. Imagine becoming so close to someone and them suddenly just leaving on to bigger things. When I put it in that perspective it gives me a brief understaning of why parents act the way they do, but I truly believe they should step in our shoes for a second.
Life is full of ups and downs, you meet people, and lose some too. That is just something that is inevitable which is what I feel some parents miss. They lived their life, so why is it not okay for us to live ours? What they need to look at, is their past and realize that we have to build our own story. I personally am 19 years old, turning twenty this November and they still treat me like I'm 10 years old. They say I should ask for permission "out of respect", but shouldn't they respect what I want to do that certain day, or whatever choice I'm making? They want to be respected but don't want to show any respect back which is the problem.
If you want to live freely, and happy without feeling restrained the best thing to do is talk to them. I know it might be a scary feeling, that is something I can't stress enough but it is something that has to be done if you want change. Something that I always tend to think of when I feel like i'll lose my family is that if someone really loves you and cares for you they will forgive, and understand no matter what the problem is. They will chose your happiness over theirs because that is what you do when you love someone. If it backfires, at least you have change and one day they will realize that you did nothing wrong, and they lost an amazing person like yourself just because they couldn't understand.