Often times we don't realize there are people in our lives we should thank more often than we do. These are the people we take for granted. The people we think should take care of us because, after all, they're the reason we're here. It's almost as if the things they do for us are seen more as a job than something they decide to wake up every day and do over and over.

They're the people who help us learn to speak, who help us muster up the courage to take our first steps, who step back and watch us grow up. They're the ones who help us back onto the bike when we fall and bandage our scrapped knees with medicine and kisses. They're the ones who we learn from. They become our role models.

Often times, we forget to thank them. So this is a list of eleven things I forgot to thank my mom for and that, maybe, you forgot to thank your mom for too.

1. I'm thankful for how inspirational you are by just being you.

You have shown me, time and time again, what it means to push through. You have gone through so much in your time here on Earth, enough to turn anyone cold-hearted and mean, and you still persevered. I watched you struggle to make ends meet to make sure we were okay. I watched you spend countless nights up working on school work and finally graduating with a Bachelor's Degree this past May. You're an inspiration to me. You inspire me to follow my dreams. You taught me it's okay to take a step back and take care of yourself as long as you finish what you start.

2. I am thankful for the way you aren't always serious with me.

You're a serious person when you need to be but you always know when to make me laugh or when I need to smile. You've always been that way and I can never thank you enough for making the bad days brighter. Plus, you make the cutest deer on Snapchat.

3. I am thankful for the things I inherited from you.

There are certain things I inherited from you I never thanked you for. I'm thankful for the brown eyes you gave me because when I see yours I feel warm and I know I'm home. I'm thankful for the strength you have given me to face the tough times in life knowing there will be a light eventually at the end of the tunnel. I'm thankful for your sarcasm, even though you might not be so grateful it was one of the things I got from you. After all, one sarcastic version of you might be more than enough.

4. I'm thankful for the way you were strong when I couldn't be.

This year has been completely terrible almost all of the time. Yet, throughout this year, I was able to lean on you, to cry on your shoulder and you never turned me away. Since last November, I have faced some of the hardest challenges of my life. When I lost the person I thought I would be with forever, you held me as I cried and told me that he was just one bad apple and that I had a beautiful banana waiting out there for me. When I was dealing with another issue that weighed heavy upon my mind, spirit and heart, you stood by me and you never let me fall. You held me and told me it would be okay. Once again, you were right.

5. I'm thankful for all you did to protect me.

I know I argue with you about this a lot and tend to bring it up more than I should. You need to know I understand why you did what you did during those ten years we were stuck in a bad situation. I know you did all you could to protect me, to shield me from things I didn't need to see and to keep me safe. Even though I hated you for a long time for it, mainly because I didn't understand, I am grateful now.

6. I'm thankful for the way you care about the things I care about.

Since I first picked up a pencil and started to write, you always encouraged me. When I wanted to fly across the world for a mission trip to Haiti, you wanted to stop me. Then, God stepped in and you let me go. Now, we both know I very well might have found my calling while I was there. Even though you cried in the bathroom at the airport, I can never thank you enough for letting me go, for letting me experience something so wonderful. When I get ready to make my speeches at church for Operation Christmas Child, you always listen to my nervousness before hand. Then, afterwards, you're almost always in tears and tell me how great I did.

7. I'm thankful for the way you always let me chase my dreams, wherever they took me.

I think that it started with ballet. There was nothing more I wanted to be at four-years-old than a ballerina. I went to ballet lessons, tap lessons and jazz. Slowly that faded into soccer, which I hated. I remember praying for rain before every game but you always told me it would be okay. Then came the piano lessons because I just knew I would be the next Mozart. Eventually that became cheer-leading, then bowling and then a mission trip to Haiti. Through it all, you never questioned me. You just let me do, you let me learn.

8. I'm thankful for you letting me make my own mistakes, even if they were ones you'd already made.

For the longest time, you tried your best to shield me from heartbreak and the outside world. You'd made mistakes in your younger years and you didn't want the same for me so you held on for dear life. Like any normal teenager, I rebelled against this harder than I should have. I think I spent most of teenage years grounded in some form or another but I learned from it each time. I know you don't think I always learned from those mistakes but I did and they have helped shape me into the person that I am now. If you hadn't let me make those mistakes, allowed me to experience things for myself, I think I wouldn't be in the place I am now. Thank you for letting me do these things, even if it almost killed you in the process.

9. I'm thankful for the weekend movie binges and shopping trips.

Sometimes, I just need to hole myself away from the world and you understand that. So we curl up on the couch, showers sometimes optional, and binge watch television shows or Lord of the Rings. We laugh together, cry together and occasionally you have to remind me that it's okay because it's just a movie. I'm thankful for our shopping trips and the time we get to share, even if I drive you crazy sometimes. From smelling every fragrance in Bath and Body Works to trying on everything I think is cute in Maurice's, you're the one person I want to share all of that with.

10. I'm thankful for your support during my terrible music and bad hair phases.

I first want to say that I am so sorry for subjecting you to some of the music I listened to. I'm not sure how you ever even survived some of the things I listened to. Bless your soul. It seemed that no matter what music I listened to due to whatever social phase I was going through at the time, you always dealt with it with a lot of grace. You also dealt with all of my hairstyles. From me using your hairspray to get just enough poof for my big hair to accidentally burning my forehead with a curling iron, you helped me through it all. Even when I wanted blonde hair that looked awful, you still told me it looked good.

11. I'm thankful for everything you've ever done and continue to do.

I don't think there could ever be a list long enough to tell everything I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for the way you drove over an hour to pick me up at college when I was sick and couldn't drive. I'm thankful for every paper you've ever printed off and stapled for me. I'm thankful for you letting me put my cold feet on you in the middle of the night. I'm thankful for how you're always on my side, even when I'm incredibly wrong. I'm thankful for the way you always feed me, even if it means going to town to buy food when you don't want to. I'm thankful for every road trip, for every laugh and every smile. I'm thankful for the way you love me unconditionally, even when I don't deserve me. More importantly. I'm thankful for the way you make me want to live on the days I don't feel I deserve to be here.

So thank you, Mom. I will never have enough words for my gratitude for everything you've done, big or small. Just know, I've counted each thing and they all mean the same to me.

I love you.

Sincerely,

Your Child: The One Who Isn't Nearly Thankful Enough