Dear Mom,

Thank you. Thank you for trusting me, believing in me, supporting me, and loving me through this experience that is college, through this experience that is life.

But thank you does not even begin to cover how much I owe you. You have always done so much for me. You’ve let me cry in your lap when a boy does something silly. You’ve let me laugh at you when you did something silly. You’ve let me be me when no one else would. These 500 words cannot begin to describe how much you mean to me.

You are my rock, and I don’t know what I would do without you. I have never felt like you weren’t there for me, and I love that about you. I love your hugs – they’re tight, long, and warm. When I haven’t seen you for a long time, I just want every hug I can possibly get, even though we’ve got stuff to do. You’ve always been on my side, even if you knew I was wrong.

You are my best friend, and I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t talk to you for just one day. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t want to talk to you – I actually look forward to our 30-minute conversations every day, even if I do most of the talking. We have the best conversations, and these are the moments that can never be replaced by anyone else.

You are my hero. You’ve let me grow up to be the girl and now woman that I want to be. You’ve helped me through situations that I didn’t know how to deal with, that only super heroes can handle. You’ve listened to me when I need someone to just listen. You’ve seen me dance in the car... or at least try to dance, which not many people can handle.

You are the perfect example of what a woman should be. I’ve looked up to you since day one, and I hope that I can become half the woman that you are. You are classy, beautiful, caring, lovable, elegant, and graceful. I hope that every lesson you have taught me I can someday teach to my own children. You inspire me every day to be the best version of me that I can be.

Since you have always been there for me, I promise that I will always be there for you. I know that one day I will go through some of same struggles that you have been through, but I promise to make the best choices for me since you’ve always stood by me when I make choices and decisions. I will never question your ways or the lessons that you have taught me. Thank you for shaping me into the woman that I am today and for staying the cool mom even when I do “uncool” things.

I love you to the moon and back (and forth and back and forth… aka a lot)!

Love your forever little girl,

Mackenzie Lee

xoxo