Dear Mom,

First of all, you should know that no amount of words typed or said could ever truly let you understand how much I love you. I cannot thank you enough for not only the person you are, but also the person you taught me to be. But, I guess I'll give it a try.

Thank you for always reminding me to smile in the face of adversity, because there are better days ahead. Thank you for pushing me to do better-- to be better. Thank you for always believing in me and my ideas. You never once told me there was something I wasn't capable of doing (except math...we know I can't math). Thank you for taking me to church and teaching me about Jesus. Thank you for praying with me before you tucked me in every night. Thank you for seeing a bad relationship before I did. Thank you for teaching me to be a lady and making sure I'm treated as one.

Thank you for supporting me at all of my games and competitions throughout school. Even though you don't like phone calls, thank you for always answering mine that first year of college and just letting me talk because you knew I needed to. Thank you for always finding my Nintendo when I lost it (except for that one time I lost it for three years, and all of my Nintendogs died). Thank you for helping me with my homework but never doing it for me. Thank you for still loving me in middle school when... well just thanks for loving me through that.

Thank you for telling me no. Thank you for teaching me to respect adults, no matter if I agree with them or not. Thank you for truly understanding the importance of education and inspiring your students every day. Thank you for not disowning me when I decided I'd become an underpaid teacher as well. Thank you for making sure we all sat down at the table and had family dinners together. Thank you for loving dad and making sure my childhood was a stable one. Thank you for making me try different things when I was younger so I could find out what I liked. Thank you for asking me about my day and actually caring about my answers. Thank you for being my first, and at times, my only cheerleader who was proud of everything I accomplished.

As I've left the house and ventured out into the world on my own, I've realized that not every mom believes, supports, and loves their kids. And that truly breaks my heart. When I was little, I thought that was just something moms had to do. I now realize it's something you chose to do.

So, thank you mom-- for everything.

Love,

Your Biggest Fan