Dear Mom,

I wish I could find all the words that best describe my mother. However, words just seem to fall short. No matter what she continued to push through the struggles life would throw at her. She kept doing so in order to give my brother and me a safe place to grow. A place that is full of support and love. Life growing up was never easy. It was hard on my mom with her being a single parent. She worked all the time just to provide but never complained about it. She had to face trials, tribulations, and fears, but she always persevered.

My first memory of my mom being a hero for me was when I was five. At just the small age of five, I was a victim of child abuse. It's something I can talk about now, but it was hard back then. My father let his girlfriend at the time hurt me severely while he watched, and because of that, I was left with emotional scars and physical bruises. With what had happened my mom didn't waste time. She quickly jumped to protect me from then on out. Making sure I wouldn't be around my abusers so that they couldn't hurt me again. She even had to cuss out lawyers, judges, and DHS in order to get it set in motion. Not once do I remember her complaining about it. She just did what she had to do to protect her child.

Now in no way am I saying my mother is the object of perfection, but she's always gone out of her way to make us feel loved, protected, and secure. She encouraged my brother's passion for art and computers while still managing to support my love for music and my band career. I remember when my brother was 12 he got diagnosed with an eye disease. Basically, his immune system was attacking his eyes. As scary as it was this was another occasion where my mom didn't hesitate. She was determined to care for him even going so far as to overcome her own fear of needles to give him shots in his stomach. By the time I reached high school my mom was in college, working full time, supporting my brother who was also in college, going to his school every other week to give him shots, and all while still going to my football games to watch me march in the band. I'm still amazed at how she juggled so much at that time, but she did it and in 2013 she graduated college at the same time I was graduating high school!

It was an incredible time. This lead to one of the most prominent moments that I worried about her. When I was in college she underwent a biopsy on a lump in her breast. It ended up being a cyst but it was enough to truly scare us. She kept it a secret until after she got the good news as to worry me and my brother. It was a moment I'll never forget. Seeing my hero as human. In recent years I've watched my mom handle family issues, grief, happiness, and in 2021 the death of her father, my Pappy. This has been the first time that I've seen a significant amount of weakness in my mother. The woman who always seemed to wear armor and protect us was now afraid of what lied ahead of us. I've seen her cry and I've listened to her talk about how much she misses her father. It reminds me every day that sometimes grief can be humanizing especially when it comes to people we put on a pedestal.

If I had just a few words to say to my mom it would be... remember how special you are and how many lives you truly are a blessing to. Even when life can get difficult you bring light into the world and make us feel safe and loved. I couldn't have asked for a better mother and a more loving hero.

Love, Katie.