I think it’s safe to say most children and teens, myself included, often forget to remind their mothers how much they appreciate them and how special they really are to us. I sometimes get so wrapped up in myself and my life that I forget to thank the person who not only brought me into this world, but also gave me the chance to be who I am today. So, a long overdue thank you to my mother—the strongest woman I know.

Thank you for always encouraging me to try new things. And for paying for a ton of expensive lessons (acting, piano, soccer, dance, guitar) until I found what I was passionate about. Thank you for attempting to make me continue these things for more than a month, no matter how much I cried and screamed. I mean, come on, I wanted to quit acting lessons because I was missing a Bat Mitzvah. Without you pushing me to do my best every step of the way, I’m not sure where I would be right now.

Thank you for harassing me about my grades along with your partner in crime (dad) and for grounding me when I did not do well. I don’t think I would take school nearly as seriously as I do now if I wasn’t always encouraged to put my all into my school work. Oh, and even though it drove me crazy, thanks to you and dad for always responding to my “I did good on my test!” with “I hope it wasn’t an English test.” Every. Single. Time. Hey, I learned my parts of speech eventually.

And thank you for entertaining the idea of me going to every college I applied to and coming with me on every single visit, even though we both knew you wanted me to go to TCNJ from the start. Not to mention, you were always patient as I stressed over my applications and worried I would never end up anywhere.

Even though I hated it at the time, thank you for laughing at me every time I cried about something ridiculous growing up. Whether it was because my sister sprayed me with the hose or because I did not want to go to bed yet; we all know I was the world’s biggest drama queen. So thank you for reminding me, even at the time, how insignificant those situations were by making fun of me. Still to this day, I look back on those moments and smile.

And what about “make good choices”? You said it every single time you dropped me off or I left the house and I never really paid much attention to it but, looking back, I think I heard your voice screaming “make good choices!” every time I was faced with a decision. It worked—still does to this day.

Thank you for always showing up to every performance, haunted house, and play my sister and I carefully rehearsed. And thank you for even paying to watch them sometimes. And for pretending they were good! I would not have the confidence I do today if it had not been for you always supporting me and cheering me on.

This one I didn’t really appreciate until I grew up, but thank you for always taking the other person’s side when I got into an argument. Even though I thought this was totally unfair because I saw how much everyones' parents always stood up for them, I realize you did it to show me that I am not always right. And I’ve learned, contrary to my confident beliefs growing up, that I’m not always going to be right. As a matter of fact, I’m rarely right.

Thanks for listening to every single word I say and always knowing exactly what I want and need at all times. Whether it’s buying me the exact pair of white jeans I’ve wanted all summer or sending me tea when I’m sick at school—you always know. There’s no one in this world who knows me better than you do.

Even though you weren’t exactly ready for my dating a 19-year-old when I was 16 (you didn’t even let my sister get away with this, but come on, you know it runs in the family), thank you for supporting my decision and continuing to do so three years later. This might be the topic we argue about most, but you always let me win in the end and allow me to make my own decisions. Along with this, even though you’re unreasonably strict most of the time, thank you for understanding when I really want to do something and not always giving me too much of a problem about it.

Most importantly, thank you for doing this all on your own over the past few years. It can’t be easy going from having a co-parent for 19 years to having to do it all on your own. But you’ve done an amazing job of always providing my sister and me and you've gone out of your way to remind us that even though things change, they do not always get worse.

To the most special person in my life: Thank you. I promise I’ll repay you one day!