Mother’s Day is a week away and some of us like myself are fortunate enough to have our mothers by our sides. Unfortunately, we are the ones who take them for granted the most. It is quite easy at our young age to get caught up in our life outside of home allowing our work, social and school life get in-between the time we should be dedicating to the greatest relationship we may have, the one between us and our mother. This upcoming Sunday, don’t forget to dedicate some extra time to your mom because realistically speaking our parents aren't eternal and there will come a time when we wish we had stayed home with them instead of going out with our friends. With that being said here’s a letter of gratitude to all the great moms out there but especially my own.

Dear Mom,

I call you mom, mommy and even mother at times when I want you to solely pay attention to me. Calling you mom alone would make you fall short of all roles you have played in my life for the past twenty years. I can confidently call you my best friend, as well as the sister I never had, you’re my right hand and you’re also my go to. It wasn’t long ago when I use to see you as simply my mother, or a “parental unit” (like I jokingly labeled you and dad on my contacts). Maybe that feeling of seeing our mothers as the authoritarian figure rather than the best friend changes for everyone with given time; at least it did for me.

It wasn’t until I got to college that our relationship grew beyond what it ever was. I was no longer afraid to talk to you about life, all of a sudden you somehow became the person I would vent to before I did to my own friends, and in that turning point, I came to see what a mother truly is. You are the definition of unconditional love, we all hear that word but not many of us can comprehend its concrete meaning, but when I think of what having unconditional love for another is, I think of the way you are with my brother and I. Notwithstanding our failures, you have still been there, you have lifted us up when we have fallen. You have cried from the sight of our tears. You have said all the right words during the times when nothing was right and everything was wrong. All this time you have never failed to put us before yourself. So on this day and every single day I dedicate my life, my success, and all my unconditional love to you mom. May I find it in me to one day become the women that you are. Mom I just wanted to reassure you that today and every other day of the year you are appreciated and you are loved.

Thank you for being so much more than just a mom.