We were getting ready to move out. All of our stuff packed up, in our transition of moving out of our three story house we called home for four years.

Newly divorced, my mother had to find a new home, somewhere to continue her business, and a safe place to raise her eleven year old daughter. It was my mom's and my new beginning in that home. Just us two, moving forward in our lives.

Fast forward four years, my mother no longer had the successful business she started. She quit her most recent job for getting treated poorly. My mother was out a job and could no longer afford the pay the bills on our home. She endlessly searched for a new job, while continuing to move our belongings to our new apartment. She was skipping meals, having sleepless nights, experiencing continuous headaches that never went away, and was always worrying about what we were going to do next. She was beyond stressed and mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted with all she had to do. It was once again, just her and I, all by ourselves.

On October 19th, 2010, my mother collapsed in our backyard while painting the back of our garage. My mom laid in the backyard unconscious for about an hour until she woke up and realized she couldn't stand up. Her boyfriend and niece came over and brought my mom to the apartment to lay down. My aunt later came over to check on her and to give her food, but she didn't take anything. Later that afternoon, she checked on her again and was still pretty rough, so my aunt took her to the walk-in clinic.

The walk-in noticed something was terribly wrong, so they sent her in an ambulance to the downtown hospital. There, they realized that my mother had an aneurysm that had burst so they flew her in a helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, which is where she was diagnosed with seven brain aneurysms.

When she finally awoke from unconsciousness two days later, she learned about what had happened. She found out that she was very malnourished and dehydrated and that she had not one, not two, but seven brain aneurysms. Throughout the two weeks she spent in the hospital in St. Paul, doctors coiled four aneurysms on the left side and couldn't put a stent on the aneurysm that burst until her blood sugar went up. Once her blood pressure finally went up, they did surgery on her brain and put a stent on the aneurysm that was leaking. A couple days later after her main surgery, one of her nurses noticed something else was wrong and realized that she also had two minor strokes.

During all this time, I was staying at my dad's. Being that I was thirteen, I didn't completely understand what was going on. I knew that something bad had happened to my mom, but I didn't realize what her odds were of actually surviving what she had endured.

Since 2010, my mom has gone back to St. Paul three different times to meet with her doctors to confirm that all is well with her aneurysms. She continues to go to St. Paul every three years for checkups if all is going well.

Today, my mom is happy and healthy with some continued limitations from the side effects of her aneurysms and surgeries. She still today gets occasional headaches that range from mild to severe, she has trouble with sleep, she has very limited muscles, she takes many different medications to control her blood pressure, headaches, etc., and still gets migraines from time to time.

Now, being that I'm nineteen and finally understand all that my mother has been through, it's scary realizing that all that she went through SHOULD have killed her, but it didn't. Seven brain aneurysms in one small, petite lady? How is that at all even possible?

So, being that my mom has gone through so much, I call her my own personal miracle. I can't imagine going through my high school years without my mom being by my side, watching me graduate. Without her help throughout my collegiate years, who knows where I'd be now? My mother has become my best friend and I honestly can't imagine how I would have turned out if she would have been taken on that tremendous day that everything changed.

October 19th will no longer be just any other average day for me; it'll forever be a day that is ingrained in my memory forever. On that day, my mother should have taken her last breath. On that day, my family should of been told the devastating news that her life had ended. On that day, we were told my mom was a living miracle.

To you, mom, thank you for being the wonderful human you are. I know you have gone through SO much in all your years, but you never give up. Through all the hardships, you continue to persevere for Kim, Michael, and myself. You make it through everyday and end them all with a smile. You've taught me so much that I could write a novel about it all. All the wonderful hugs you give, your effortless talent you have with flowers, the way you instantly put a smile upon anyone's face, everything you do brings more joy to every person you touch. The world is truly blessed with your gracious presence and beautiful personality and if I turn out to be half as great of a mother as you are, I'd be amazing. You are great, you are beautiful, you are brilliant, you are tender, you are kind, you are amazing, you are pure, you are a miracle. I love you more than I could ever explain.