Dear Mom,

As I am typing this letter, my mind instantly flashes back to all the amazing memories we have shared together — both good and bad.

I want to start off by thanking you, because I wouldn't be the college student I am today without your guidance, support, and wisdom- or even in college for that matter. Thank you.

Thank you for picking out my clothes and feeding me as a baby, but I wholeheartedly have to thank you more for allowing me to not wear those terrifying suspenders and dress myself. Thank you so much for teaching me how to read and for helping me work on my horrendous handwriting in first grade. Thank you for helping me work on my spelling words everyday, when I got home from school. Thank you for trying to teach me how to ride a bike, even though I threw my bike down the hill and never rode it again.

Thank you for coming to all the choir concerts and plays that I was in, and for being my number one supporter. It felt good to look out into the audience and see you with a huge smile on your face trying to sneak photos on your phone/camera, despite having all the parents be told by a faculty member to turn their phones off before the concert began. I don't know what I would be doing in my life if you didn't support me every step of the way. Thank you for pushing me to be the best possible version of me, by instilling in me a hard work ethic and not taking the easy way out of life. Thank you for spoiling me with Taco Bell and shopping trips, even when I don't deserve them. Thank you for your laugh and for your optimism.

Thank you for supporting me and always loving me, even when I make mistakes and lied to you about drinking alcohol in college. Thank you for making me understand that I am a special person, and no one person on this earth can take that away. Thank you for helping me, when I need help understanding how to fill out loans, the FAFSA, and a huge plethora of even more confusing papers that come with adulthood. Thank you for allowing me to be myself.

Without your love, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Without you, I wouldn't have made it this far in life. Without you, I would not believe that I can do anything that I set my mind on. Without you, I wouldn't want to shoot for the stars and chase my dreams. Without you, I wouldn't be me.

Thank you for everything. From the laughter, the arguments, the lies, raising me every step of the way, nagging me to get a job, teaching me how to do my laundry, raising me to be independent, and for allowing me to grow up and make my own mistakes.

My mother, my best friend.

(Happy birthday!)

Sincerely,

Lewis