Patawarin mo ako.

I've decided to start learning Tagalog in earnest. I've dabbled with it for many years now, but have never been very serious. But now I feel like I have the extra motivation to do so. Why the change of heart? I feel like I owe it to my parents to learn how. I remember them trying to teach me growing up, but I never really picked it up because no one else besides my parents spoke it. I wanted to fit in and speak like everyone else. I didn't want to stick out and possibly be the target of teasing. To their credit, my parents were sensitive to my wishes and didn't force it on me. I wonder if it hurt them that I rejected the language that they used. Was I, in fact, rejecting a part of them just because I didn't want to be different. If so, how cruel was I in my ignorance to turn a blind eye to such a large part of my heritage because I was uncomfortable with how it would make me look to my peers?