My mom texted me yesterday saying, “Mija, Look how far you have come. Let this and your future be your goal in life. People are mere grains of sand you pass by in your own path. I love you and support you on whatever decisions you make.”

And dang, that made me CRY! My mom is really one of the only people to know what I’ve gone through in life. Our relationship hasn’t been easy but our lives haven’t been easy either. It’s taken a lot from both of us to get to where we are now. I think it’s just a little more difficult because we really mirror each other and we both feel as if we are right so we just end up bumping heads. But nonetheless, I appreciate her more than anyone in the world. We all say we know someone who is stronger than anyone else we ever know but when it comes to my mom, she really is that b*tch! She is THAT strong.

I can’t thank her enough for going above and beyond by providing me with what I need. For being both my mom and dad. For putting her ego aside and assisting me in trying to mend things with my dad, even if he chooses to not change. For pouring strength into me so that I can become the person I need myself to be so that I can believe in myself. I thank her for letting me keep all the pets I randomly bring home. I still can’t believe she let teenage Alexis dye her hair every color under the sun! But that just shows how cool she is. Yeah actually, she’s a pretty rad mom. What other mom can go from singing Conway Twitty to Sublime to Mary J. Blige! Ugh, I love that!

To my mom: You’re my rock and I couldn’t have asked for a better mom. You made life look easy. You made heartbreak look easy. You made being a mom look easy. I can only ever hope to have half as much strength that you have. Thank you for being you, a feisty Leo! Thank you for supporting me unconditionally in all that I do. I love you!