Dear Mom,

I don’t know where to begin a letter to you. I should probably start with thank you. Thank you for being the best mom a girl could ask for. Thank you for helping me with my first steps and preparing me for college, and everything in between.

Thank you for good morning hugs and good night kisses. Thank you for packed lunches and games played on rainy days. Thank you for bedtime stories and girl’s movie nights. Thank you for smiles at the good times and a shoulder to lean on during the bad times.

We’ve had our ups and downs, but I like to think we’ve had more ups than downs. You have been a role model for me since I understood the meaning of the word. I know we don’t always see eye to eye (especially since I’m still an inch shorter than you), but our differences have taught me more about who I am and—more importantly—who I want to be.

You have given me so many things. I owe my great love of books to you, as well as my love of romantic comedies and the occasional tear-jerker. Although it was slow coming, I also believe my love of chocolate stems in part from you. Even my great desire to go to Ireland comes partly from you. (We WILL get there someday!) I may not resemble you as much as some children resemble their parents, but our similarities run deeper than the surface. You have given me a person to aspire to, and I can only hope that someday I become that person.

We have laughed. We have also cried. Through it all, I can always come back to one thing: you are my mom and you always will be. As I have heard it said before, you are the Lorelai to my Rory.

I know that in a few months, I will leave home again for year two of college. I also know that saying goodbye will be just as hard as it was the first time. But you can rest assured in this knowledge: I will still be your daughter even though I can’t hug you first thing in the morning or laugh at the same things you do. I will be doing all the things I usually do; you simply won’t be right there when it happens.

Taking a line from one of my favorite children’s books, “I’ll love you forever, like you for always.” Thanks for being my mom. I love you.