Hi Mom.

There's something I've been carrying around for a while now — and I just needed to say it out loud.

Thank you. Not the quick thank you at the end of a phone call. A real one.

The kind you deserved to hear a long time ago.

I remember the way you showed up. Not just for the big moments. But the Tuesday nights.

The ordinary ones. The ones nobody photographs but somehow shape everything.

You were there for those too.

I won't pretend we always made it easy on each other. Two women who love each other as much as we do —

sometimes that comes with edges. But you never once let it change the way you showed up for me.

And I see that now. I really see it.

Because sometimes I'll catch myself — the way I handle something hard,

the way I love the people closest to me — and I stop.

Because there you are. Right inside me. You've been there this whole time.

I am becoming you in all the ways that matter Mom. And I could not be more grateful.

You gave me wings and then you watched me use them. Even when it took me far from you.

Even when I didn't look back enough. You just kept cheering from wherever you were standing.

I am so proud to be your daughter.

Happy Mother's Day Mom.

I love you.