My Earth.

The earth in which I came from, rich, fertile, black, and warm. Born into a cocoon of love. Held close and protected. Mother Earth loved me more than I could bare to understand. At a tender age, never went without, even on the roughest of days, my Earth provided. Through Earth quakes, tsunamis, flooding's, volcano eruptions, she stood tall. She provided and prepared us to see another day. Although she is stressed and underappreciated, still, like the season of winter transitioning into spring, she always blossomed. A atmosphere of love, she welcomed us. I'll love her forever for it. I put her on a pedestal, allowing the galaxy to see all her glory. I thought she was beautiful, a breathe of fresh air, a warm spring morning, a hot summer day, she smelled of home. I couldn't have done it without her, a pillar that stood tall, a foundation in which we would seek shelter from the storm. She never abandoned us. I sat with her, hoping that she knew through all the bad weather I'll be there with her. She loved us. I loved her.

The earth is defined as 1):the planet in which we live; the world. 2):the substance of the land surface; the soil.

A mother, the first person I ever knew, the one who will be there with me through everything. You were the beginning of my world because I came from you. Blossomed from beneath the depths of the soil in which I was planted. Like the rose that grew from concrete. Like a flower that grew out the mud, I sprouted. You nurtured us, watered us, sheltered us, loved us. My mother, my Earth, you plant a garden so beautiful. Like the matriarch you are, you represent a firm tree in the middle of this garden, with roots so deep they cling to the core of the earth. You are the heart of the core of us, the foundation of who I am ; my Earth.

Dear Mother love,

I thank you for life, I thank you for those who have assigned me to be a part of a woman who I admired so much. In multiple lifetimes, if I could choose you over and over, I would. Through every lifetime. You never failed to prove to me that you loved me. You loved you other children as well, it always showed. It shows in the way we love you back. Although overwhelmed and surround by six of us, you never thought twice about accepting the responsibility in which you were given. Through the judgement, whispers, and stereotypes, you never second guessed us. You handled everything that was thrown at you, took it to the chest and brushed it off effortlessly. Like a queen that you are, you always adjusted your crown, stood with your feet planted firm, and you thrived, from you we grew.

Words aren't enough to express how much I appreciate it all, dedicating yourself to your family. Migrating from a different country and deciding that you wanted better for your children as far as education and overall opportunities, you put us first. I couldn't imagine how stressful and lonely sometimes it was to be away from your own parents, siblings, friends, and family. You always put us first. You didn't have the ability to finish school like you wanted to, so that push was shown through the encouragement that you shown for us to become and want better. You allowed us to dream , never stepping on us about becoming who we wanted to be. You molded me into the shy butterfly that I am today, one filled with manners, attitude, values, and love.

I didn't know how you did it. Even as an adult now, I still don’t know how you do it. You embodied the idea and energy of strength in my young eyes. On days where it got stressful and you would get mad and yell, I never faulted you. At my tender age, you could do no wrong in my eyes. It was weird, I was still clueless about a lot in life, like any other kid, but I had always had some sort of understanding of you. Even on your worst days, I got you. Even now as an adult, I understand you even more.

Outside our doors we were enveloped in a different culture than the one we were raised with inside. You adapted to your surrounds while never letting us forget who you are and where we came from. You didn't assimilate and I thank you for that. This isn't to offend anyone else, but you came here with the goal (unconsciously, from my perspective) to be authentically you you didn't strive to fit an image . In a world were they praise and promote unrealistic beauty standards, nip tucks, and modifications you embodied realness. You always made sure I knew who I was, who I came from, and our ancestral roots. Our blood runs deep , whether you realized it or not, you never let us forget that. Within the chaos of the city, you created a shelter for us, a safe haven.

Regardless of outside influences, my childhood was the beginning of the foundation of of the person that I am today as far as my morals, manners, beliefs, empathy, and wisdom, etc. To someone on the outside they might have thought that our environment may not have been the best, from the occasional neighborhood brawls to the crazy personality of our neighbors. Although in my young eyes your old stomping grounds were a place where memories were built, and many friends were made. When I think of my childhood, I think of the environment you created , one so complete, it didn't matter where we were. Regardless of the influences of our surroundings we always stood tall in who we were, shy yet not easily persuaded. Nice but not the one for peer pressure. Childish but never disrespectful to our elders or those who are respectful to us. We weren't a product of our environment. We were a product of the family in which we came from. I thank you for the part you played in that. You protected us, it may have seemed "sheltered" but I would describe it as being cared for. I don't care how anyone else would interpret it because in my world ,as a child , I felt safe with you in it. You blurred out a lot of the nonsense that was going on the outside. I remember having to be inside as soon as the streetlights turned on, the kids would sometimes playfully tease us but you didn't play about our safety. I didn't really understand it to the full extent as a child, but now as an adult I really get it. You loved and protected us so much. You would claw at any stranger who got to close, seeing anything or anyone you didn't trust as a threat. You were hard when you needed to be and soft all the other times.

Regardless of everything, ultimately you allowed me to be a child and enjoy the innocence of seeing the good in the world, making good genuine friends, teaching us life lessons, allowing me and my siblings to be ourselves, while also teaching us to take no shit and to stand up for ourselves. I've never seen you backdown from anyone or anything, I admired your strength, I wanted to embody it. As an Aries myself, when it came to your fiery Sagittarius nature, I embraced it.

Just know that I want to do everything that I can to provide for you, really provide for you. I want to repay you (even though you'd never take it) for everything that you've done. I don't just mean financially either, I want to provide you with your own houses one day, chauffeurs, have free time, lounge, have your bills on auto pay, allow you to retire and travel. It has nothing to do with materialism its about the thought behind the idea. You've spent so long occupied by your duties that I want you to live everyday like it's a vacation. I want to make you proud. I want you to see the world for all the years were you barely tended to your own social life because you were tending to us. I want to show you that you are appreciated.

The earth in which I came from. From 1996, to today, yesterday, and onward, you are loved, Mother Earth.

S.J.J