In 5th grade, I was given an assignment. Each kid in the class was instructed to choose a "hero" and write an essay describing why we chose said person. I, along with nearly every other kid in the class, chose a parent. In fifth grade, our parents are our whole world. To our little, inexperienced 10-year-old brains, our moms are superhuman, indestructible superheroes. As time passes, that shiny, comfortable wall of naivety slowly comes down, and we begin to realize that our parents are not indestructible, but are simply human, just like us. That being said, it's 10 years later and indestructible or not, I still believe my mom to be the biggest superhero there is.

How you did it, I'll never know.

I'll never know how you somehow managed to get my brother and me to all of our activities without another person around to do half the driving. I'm pretty sure that between the two of us, we participated in nearly every activity possible. When it came to new activities, you never said no. You managed to get us to every dance class, baseball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, softball, piano, violin, tennis and cross-country practice on time and you were always at every game or recital to cheer us on. The thing is, you didn't need to let us do all of that. We could've been limited to only certain sports and it would've been completely understandable, considering the fact that you were both a full-time teacher and a single parent. But that wasn't the way you worked. You never once used being on your own as an excuse to do less.

I'll never know how you found the energy to play both roles. Every night you somehow had an incredible home-cooked dinner on the table, despite having worked all day as a teacher. You always found time to play catch with my brother in the backyard to help him practice for baseball. You did all of the renovations on our house by yourself and fixed anything that was broken. You helped me do my hair and paint my nails. You stressed how important grades were and always helped with homework. You taught us how to ride our bikes. You played ice hockey with us at the neighborhood pond in the winter. You taught us how to change the oil in our cars. You taught me how to cook, sew and garden.

I know several people with non-divorced parents that didn't get to do or learn nearly half of the things that my brother and I did. Somehow, despite being a full-time teacher and a single mother, you managed to give us everything and more.

Although I still never will know how you managed to be such an incredible mother all on your own, I do know that I am exceedingly thankful. Thank you for going above and beyond in everything. Thank you for making sure we still had a good relationship with our father down in Florida and got to see him as much as possible. Thank you for making sure every birthday party was so creative and fun. Thank you for getting us ski lessons when we were young, and working extra jobs when we fell in love with it so that we could keep up the expensive hobby. Thank you for encouraging us to adventure and travel, even if it meant leaving you alone for a while. Thank you for teaching us to be kind, sharing and empathetic.

Thank you for inspiring us to be independent. I will never ever know how you managed to be such an incredible parent all on your own, but I do know that you've been an inspiration. Parenting is the hardest job that there is, and if you were able to rock it so well all on your own, I know that I can face whatever the world wants to throw at me, solo or not.