Dear Mom,

I don’t think you ever got the right amount of appreciation for leaving your beloved job so you could raise four girls at home. You did your best trying to keep up with four continuous schedules between three different schools. We (usually) got up in time, our lunches were packed, and a hug and kiss was exchanged before going out the door.

I will always remember being able to come home for lunch in elementary school and getting to spend time with you. You would make me my favorite lunch, Kraft Mac and Cheese with cut up pears on the side. I’d always rather spend my lunch with you then on the playground with my friends.

Every day after school, from preschool to my senior year of high school, I came home to your smiling face at the door and a warm, inviting hug. No matter what had happened at school that day or what was weighing down on me, being in your arms made me feel like everything was going to be okay.

You carpooled my friends and I to cheerleading practice a couple times a week with a smile on your face. I knew there was no way spending over an hour driving a group of middle schoolers around was what you wanted to be doing, but you put on fun music and went with it. Your warm affection and upbeat attitude is infectious.

After driving four kids around and making sure everyone made it where they needed to be, you still continued to make an amazing dinner to top it all off. I still have no idea how you did it, but you managed to do it with ease. You even tried to accommodate to everyone's different eating preferences to make all of us happy.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being such a super mom. To this day, you continue to amaze me with your strength and love. I hope to be half of the mom you were to me someday to my children. Especially now that I am away at college, I cherish the memories and time I was able to spend with you. I’d do anything to have you here at school with me, for a warm hug to come home to after a long day at class or someone to make me cry of laughter when I’m sad and feel like it’s the end of the world.

You are my rock and my heart. Thank you for being a huge reason why my childhood was so special and something I love looking back on. You were there for every struggle and every hardship as well as every celebration and growth.

I love you endlessly.