Writing this is intimidating because I truly feel there is no way to properly encapsulate your immense being. However, writing this to you can give you a sense of your monumental impact on my life and who I am today.

I started as only one half of your chromosomes and only 18-years-later, I am 46 of my own. You have created this person and I am proud to be this person because of you. From the day I was born, you have instituted a level of love and appreciation into me that I can only hope to mirror for my children in the future. It is this love and appreciation that branches off into the many aspects I have grown to adore about you.

When times are tough, you always manage to keep things going. You are the glue to the family who relies on your “funny anecdotes” and poor knowledge of geography for a laugh, a form of comfort. You never let us slack off in school because you knew our potential. At the same time, if we had an off day, you knew we tried as hard as we could. If there’s one thing I know it’s that our family loves to make you proud because it’s what makes you the happiest. In all the obstacles that we have faced and there have been many, you have guided us through them by just simply being there.

There is no way to avoid a cliche in saying that (hypothetically) if anyone were to open a dictionary and look up the word “selflessness,” there would be a picture of you. Without you, I truly feel there would be nothing -- I would have nothing. In all terms of the word “everything”: energy, life, food, water, love, care, laughs, and even material items, you have given it all. Without anything in return, you continue to endlessly give time and effort towards everyone you encounter.

For a long time I was embarrassed to say that my mom is my best friend. I look back on that time as something funny because now I openly pronounce it. I don’t know many people who can text their mothers about boy troubles and get advice about school as regularly as I do. It is your knowledge of the society we live in that makes it easy for us to be on the same wavelength. Your acceptance of feminism and the LGBTQ+ community makes talking to you seemingly effortless. Above all of this, it is the fact that we are so open with each other that makes any problem or issue seem obsolete.

To my mother who I love with all of my heart, thank you. Thank you for making me who I am. Thank you for teaching me lessons through life. Thank you for marrying the man who will get jealous that I’m writing about you and not him. Thank you for giving me a brother and sister. Thank you for crying with me at the kitchen table. Thank you for picking me up from the train. Thank you for singing me to sleep. Thank you for loving me. Thank you, for everything.