You are the best role model I will ever have. From the day I was born, you have taught me so many things about what it means to be alive. You gave me someone to look up to, someone to learn from, but you never once thought that person was you.

You taught me everything I know, in ways both tangible and abstract.

You taught me what it means to be happy, what it means to be sad, what it means to be strong and determined. You taught me to that it is okay to feel, and to not be ashamed of my emotions. You taught me that when I am sad, and I feel the need to cry, I should. You taught me to write when I feel bogged down, when I feel that something is bothering me, or even when I feel nothing at all. You said writing will always help. You taught me that I am my own person, that no one else can be me, and that no one else has the right to judge me for anything I do. You taught me what it means to be free. You taught me how to express myself. You taught me what it means to know God and to know that no matter what happens, He is always with me. You taught me that I am never alone, that even if I feel like I have no one, I always have you. You taught me what it means to have a best friend when I had none. You taught me that losing people, whether it be losing friends to a fight or losing close relatives to death, is only a part of life. You taught me that love is imperative, that hate is ignorant, and that forgiveness is paramount. You taught me that some people are toxic, and that I should rid myself of those people before I allow them to do me any harm. You taught me that healing is the best option, even when it doesn’t seem like an option at all.

You also taught me how to look after myself, how to clean my body after a long day. You taught me how to wash my hair, how to brush and care for it. You taught me how to cook, how to serve, and how to clean, even though I can’t stand cleaning. You taught me that the best time to do the dishes is right after a meal, no matter how much I hated it. You taught me that everything in my room has a place, and that when I’m finished with it, it should go back to it’s “home”. You taught me that the best feeling is the feeling of coming home to a clean room. You taught me how to care for myself when I am sick, what medicines to take and what not to take, and how long to wait until I can take more. You taught me that chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese, sprite, and peppermint will fix even the worst of cramps. You taught me how to wrap presents in the best way, to make them look the most appealing. You taught me that the key to everything is chicken broth. You taught me to do the hard tasks first, so that the easier ones will become less mundane. You taught me to always be prepared for the day, whether that be eating breakfast or having at least one pencil already sharpened.

Out of all the things you’ve taught me, the most important one is that you continue to teach me. Every day that I am with you, I learn something new. Whether it be a definition of a word I didn’t know before, or how a bank account works, you’re constantly teaching me.

And I want to say thank you for that. Thank you for all you have taught me, and all that you do for me. You have always made sure that I had whatever I needed, and also whatever I wanted, regardless of financial hardships standing in the way.

Thank you for always being here for me, and not leaving me out in the cold with no one to care for me, like someone else did. Thank you for, unlike him, taking care of me, giving me what I needed to survive. Thank you for all the times you’ve cleaned my room when it was too messy to even see the floor. Thank you for making cupcakes for my birthdays and bringing them to me in elementary school. Thank you for coming to my middle school plays and watching me play volleyball, even though I had no clue what I was doing in either of those. Thank you for coming to see me march, whether it be in a gymnasium during my first winterguard show, or in the freezing cold at 8 AM at the biggest, most important, competition I’ve ever marched in. Thank you for the pep-talk text messages you sent me on the mornings of the competitions that you couldn’t make it to. (Even though I oftentimes got mad at you for not coming.) Thank you for being there to see me graduate, all three times: elementary school, middle school, and high school. Thank you for being there for me during all the fights I’ve had with my friends, and always coaching me through it. Thank you for being there during the breakups and bad times I’ve had with boys, and teaching me how to find a good one. Or more importantly, what not to look for.

Thank you for teaching me how to be intelligent enough to see through his games, to see that his promises are nothing more than decorated lies. Thank you for showing me that I shouldn’t put anyone on a pedestal, especially a man, especially one like him. Thank you for showing me that he doesn’t love you, or me, or my sister. Though it was hard finding that out, thank you for showing me that we are better off without him.

Thank you for showing me that we are strong enough to handle our own, that even though we are women, we can have a place to live, food on the table, and happy hearts, all without a man. Thank you for teaching me that even though times can get pretty rough, we can always come out on top.

You have always accepted me for who I am, even when I thought I disappointed you the most. I know you have always thought you wouldn’t make a good mother, and you were scared that you would fail, but I think what you really fail to do is realize that you were the best one a person could ever have. I am so grateful that I got the chance to be your daughter. I thank God for you every day. Thank you for being who you are, in every way, shape, and form. I could never ask for a better one.

I am so amazed by you, your strength and motivation. You keep going no matter what tells you to stop, and when you want something, you find a way to get it. Whenever someone compliments me and tells me I’m just like my mother, they don’t know how proud I am. I can only aspire to become like you, and model myself to learn your ways. However, we are not the same person, and in many ways we are very different. Yet, for every way that we may be different, at the end of the day we can still see out of each other’s glasses.

From the bottom of my heart,

Littlefoot.