To my mother,

When you were my age, you went to college and got a degree so that you could be able to teach, and in the 20 years that you’ve taught young kids, there is no doubt that you have changed many lives. I grew up playing in a classroom for hours after school because you dedicated yourself to your students. I have seen you in your best teaching times, when your students were amazing, and I’ve seen you in some of your worst, when your students were literally draining the life out of you. Though the pay isn’t the greatest, the amount of mommy-daughter time we have had during all those summers and Christmas breaks has been priceless. What you didn’t know is that when when you thought you weren’t teaching, you were. From day one, I have been your student and our home has been the classroom, and it is you who I have learned the most from. So, thank you, Mom.

Thank you for giving me your face and your hair. When we hear the comment, “Wow, you two look identical!”, it makes me so happy. I love the fact that sometimes you can’t tell our childhood pictures apart, and I love that I get asked by complete strangers if I am your daughter.

Thank you for being patient with me when I showed the stubbornness that I inherited from my father. I know I get hard to deal with sometimes, but you’ll never understand how much I appreciate your patience.

Thank you for turning me into a reader. I will never forget the nights before bed when you would read to me. Those are some of my favorite memories with you. You taught me to read, and you showed me the wonder that books could hold. Even now, when I hear you read to your granddaughters, I am soothed and calmed just as I was all those years ago.

Thank you for teaching me to have high expectations for myself. Everything I have accomplished so far in my life has been a result of you and your teaching. You taught me to hold myself to high standards and stay true to my morals. You’ve taught me to set my goal high and do all that I can to reach it, and most of the time, you probably didn’t realize you were teaching me these things.

Thank you for loving me in the moments where I know it was really hard. I started out as an easy kid and then I hit that point. Just know that I wasn’t actively trying to make your life hard. I was trying to get myself out of the dark place that I was in, and through the process, I accidentally drug you down with me.

Thank you for becoming my best friend. I am so thankful that me moving two hours away made us grow so close. I don’t know if I could manage college without you.

Thank you for raising me to be just like you. There is no other woman on this planet I would rather be just like because I am constantly amazed by all that you do.

Thank you for being blunt with me in my times of stupidity. Sometimes, I know that I am not the smartest person, and in those times, I need someone to tell me like it is. You have always been that person for me. Thank you for your logic, and thank you for understanding when I need to hear the truth, even if it will hurt.

Thank you for teaching me how to be a mom, a wife, and a grandmother. I am none of these things yet, but because I have spent my life watching you be these things, I will know how to be one when I get there. Getting married and having kids scares me to death, but knowing that you will be there to continue teaching me puts me at ease.

Thank you for being and doing all these things, Mom. You have shaped me into the woman I am, and I don’t know who or where or what I would be right now without you. If I turn out to be half the woman you are, I will have greatly succeeded in life. Thank you for your unconditional love, and thank you for always believing in me. I love you to the moon and back.