There are no words that can fully exemplify the capacity of everything that you are to me. Mom, you are my everything.

When I think to myself, "Who is my actual best friend?" You are the first one that slips into my mind. You are the only person who knows me better than I know myself. You can read me as if my entire existence is written on the back of your hand. And to be quite honest, if it was not for you, I have absolutely no clue as to where I would be right now.

You are my stronghold. You are the only person in my life that can relate to me when I am hurting so terribly to the point that there is not an ounce of faith or hope within me any longer. You are the one that keeps my heading floating above raging waters--you are my lighthouse off in the distance. You are the shore that my tired body longs to rest upon. You are the home of my heart.

You were the first person to hold me and to tell me you loved me. You are the only one who knows what my heartbeat feels like from the inside. You carried me, tucking me comfortably into your womb for a long nine months and never mind the pain, you still adored me just the same.

There are not enough 'thank you's' in the world that I can say to you to be able to express my full gratitude for you. Your presence is my life has been so constant and un-moving--not for a moment have you ever wavered or hesitated. You are my rock. When it feels as if the mountains I stand on are shaking uncontrollably and I am crumbling down along side them, it is you who reaches down your hand in the pit of my own self-destruction to save me.

There are times when I think about, and really ponder on what it must be like for people who lost their mothers. Just the thought of not having you will drive me to my knees. You have helped bring me so far--you are both a mother and a father to me. You are my inspiration, even when you feel like you are doing the simplest of things, like buying me groceries for my dorm or just talking to me about life. You make me want to be a better me. You make me want to be just like you.

Your love for people, especially in your profession is one that people only come by once in their lifetime. I have never seen someone with so much desire in their eyes and a perseverance of change that runs so deep that it is about to bust out of the tightly-sewn seems of their heart until I look to you. You are the living definition and example of what people dream to become one day. You are the picture next to the term incredible in the dictionary.

You have taught me how to love, but how to not give myself away to temporary people who may cross my path. You have taught me patience, but you have also taken away from me, but only for my own good. You taught me that fear or quitting were not options. You have taught me how to serve others before I consider caring for myself, because it is the impression you leave on another's life that matters most. You have taught me how to laugh, even with tears streaming down my face. You have taught me how to be an amazing woman, and you did that by setting such a beautiful example that you weren't even aware that you were making at all.

Mom, you make shattered look glorious and you make fierce look unconquerable. You walk around with the entire world upon your shoulders, but you make it look like a pair of wings.

I love you endlessly. Never change and never forget how much you truly mean to me. THANK YOU.