Hi, mom.

Being an adult is hard. I miss being a kid, spending my days begging you to play with me instead of letting you finish cleaning, watching your favorite movie, or going to the bathroom for that matter. I miss the days when going to the zoo was one of the biggest surprises and roller skating in the street with the neighbors was a daily occurrence.

Now I have school work, a job, rent to pay, and more responsibilities than I thought possible. I can't even begin to imagine the strength it took for you to juggle all of that while raising my brother and I as well as you did. It had to have taken a lot of patience, compassion, and love to care for us and teach us how to survive in this world while still maintaining a healthy relationship with Dad and providing us with a welcoming and happy home.

There were times I was stubborn, obnoxious, or downright mean, but you always handled it with dignity.

You'd just shake your head, maybe laugh at me a little, and point me in the right direction. I didn't always like the advice you had to give, we fought over it often. Still, no matter how frustrated I got, you told me exactly what I needed to hear. I think that prepared me for the real world.

The world isn't always nice, and neither are the people in it, but you taught me that all we can do is take it and continue spreading kindness.

I will never know how you could be such a rock in my life even when you were going through some of the worst times in yours. Even now when I call you, stressed out and anxious, you seem to know exactly what to say. You don't get frustrated with me, and if you do you don't let it show. You are patient and remind me that "this too shall pass." No matter how busy you are, you always take the time to work through it with me. Even two hours away from home, I'm not alone.

I know it wasn't easy letting me move away to college and start a life of my own. Everything I do now is my choice, and any mistakes I make are entirely on me. All you can do is pray that you raised me well enough to be able to handle it. I know that is probably the scariest thing a mom can have to accept, but I think you did it, Mom.

I'm not perfect by any means and I still make mistakes more than I would like to admit, but watching you all these years has taught me how to pick myself back up and move on.

You've taught me to love myself even when I didn't know how. You taught me that being a woman doesn't mean being pretty and wearing the best clothes, it means being strong, kind, courageous, and helping people when you can but never letting anyone walk all over you. You taught me to always be the bigger person, and most importantly, you've taught me it's OK to fall down sometimes. It's OK to still need your mom, no matter how old you get. I thank God every day that I got such an amazing woman as my mom. Someone that acts like a mom should, keeping me in line and teaching me the hard lessons in life, but also someone who has become my closest friend.

I will always cherish the times you'd sing and dance in the car with me (even when you were judging my clearly superior dancing skills), our conversations on our night walks that seemed to go on for hours, and laughing until we cry every single time. There is no one I'd rather talk to when I'm having a bad day and no one I would trust more to give me advice in tough situations. You are one of the strongest people I know and I pray that I grow up to be even half the woman you are.

It's scary being an adult, but you've been preparing me for this my whole life. I think I'm ready now Mom. I love you, and thank you for everything.