I get writer's block a lot, but I don't think I've ever stared at a screen longer than I have while trying to come up with the words for this article. I mean...where does one even begin to explain their infinite gratitude for the very person who gave them life?

I guess I'll start here: my mom is a little weird. She's obsessed with all things Jimmy Buffet and has a disgusting amount of flamingo items (including but not limited to: a flamingo tattoo on her foot and a Christmas lawn flamingo). She buys socks labeled with L's and R's so she knows which go on which feet. I asked her what her favorite animal was the other day, expecting something normal like maybe elephant, giraffe, or dog. Her answer? "Platypus."

Yup, Wendy is a quirky one...that's for sure. But man do I love her, all weird quirks included.

I often forget how lucky I am to have the mother that I do. I think a lot of times I assume my relationship with my mom is how everyone's is: rocky points here and there, but at the end of the day there's always this underlying sense of unconditional love.

Then every once in a while, something will happen that puts things into perspective and makes me realize how extraordinary my relationship with my mom is. I'll hear, read, or see a story and I'll understand how rare my mother's care, gentleness, patience, and wisdom truly are.

Every day, I see a new side of strength in my mom. Until a few years ago, I never really grasped how courageously she's led her life. Her mother passed away when she was young, and although she was raised in the loving arms of her aunt and uncle, I've come to see the tragedy in growing up without your biological mother despite how great another parental figure may be.

Somehow though, I think that painful experience is what made my mom into the unbelievably incredible mother she is today. She loves so deeply and fully because she knows the value of that love. I don't know how she managed to do it, but she really mastered this whole "mothering" thing.

Her courage is what I admire most. I'm a big comic nerd, and I love my strong female characters like Supergirl and Wonder Woman. I look at these powerful women and think of the strength, bravery, and resilience they have and I wish that I could know them and be them. But then, I look at my mom and I realize that I have my own superhero right at home. She's strength, bravery, and resilience personified. Her unyielding care and compassion are weapons far more powerful than any shield or sword, and she binds her family together with a fiercely loyal and unbreakable love.

My mother is the strongest woman I know. She's witty, understanding, wise, kind, selfless, and relentlessly optimistic. I have never known someone as passionate toward all the multitudes of life as her, and I hope one day I can grow up to be at least half the woman she is. She may be an oddball who's a little too invested in her bird feeders and tracking of the weather, but she's my oddball and I wouldn't trade her for any of the superheroes on my shelves.

I love you mom, and I'm so proud to be your daughter. Thank you for all you do and for being the kind of mother some people only dream of.