To my mom and all of the other strong females in my life,

A hero is defined by Merriam-Webster as being a "person admired for achievements and noble qualities" among other equally nice and admirable things. You are my hero.

You lift me up when I fall. You tell me I am beautiful when I feel anything but. You teach me wrong from right. You laugh with me. You show me how to do things. You keep me in line when I fall off the path. You teach me how to be strong. Most importantly though, you have taught me how to love. You have taught me all of these things and so much more, and to write them all down would take forever.

There is nothing I can ever do to truly repay you for all of these things, but a thank you is a start.

Thank you for everything that you do. Thank you for all the laughter, tears, anger, encouragement, and so much more. Thank you for the late night talks. Thank you for teaching me about life and love. Thank you for teaching me amazing recipes. Thank you for all the crazy stories. Thank you for showing up to any and everything I ever did. Thank you for giving me the last piece of pizza, even when you wanted it. Thank you for the road trips. Thank you for the love of bad jokes and cheesy movies. Thank you for being harsh on me, even when I hated it. Thank you for teaching me the importance of respect and integrity. Thank you for loving me to the moon and back. Thank you for all of this and all of those other things I cannot write out.

You are my champion. Anyone can be a mom, an aunt, a family friend, or whatever else, but it takes someone to truly special to be good at it. There are so many things that you do not have to do, but you choose to, and that is what makes you so incredible. Every day you wake up and you choose to be that person. You have your good days and you have your bad, but we all do. Sometimes we bend and we break, but you always come back together. You are my hero, and for that, I am eternally grateful.