After a long time pondering about how write about my mom, I have finally figured out how to describe her. Rather than ask myself what I think of the woman who raised me from birth and gave me every opportunity to succeed, I decided to ask other people about who my mom is. I am extremely grateful and excited to present the honest thoughts of family members and friends to her as my words sometimes become second nature because I could not explain my gratefulness toward her every minute of my life. She may find this hard to believe but everyone else feels the same sort of love toward her and that connection is widespread to almost anyone she comes into contact with. Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite responses to the question I had to ask and I challenge you to ask the same to get an overall description of someone you love.

Almost left speechless and barely coming up with a concrete explanation, my grandmother took the question very serious and gave me an amazing answer. "If you had to, although difficult, describe your daughter in a sentence, what would it be?" Grammy, as I have called her since my younger years, told me that ONE single sentence describing my mom would be very difficult and it needed to be said well enough to get the point across. To my surprise, the illustration she laid forth was amazing. Stating that "she couldn't be more proud of my daughter, a strong, beautiful, intelligent, caring, loving, hardworking, supportive, funny and loved woman in my life." This is a mouthful that does wonders for my self esteem because that only means I am a product or mirror image of this. Lacking maybe only in the humor department I try everyday to live up, to the best of my ability, to these standards of hers everyday because I know she is the epitome of what it takes to be a respectful person. My grandmother explained her emotions effortlessly as if she had known these are the words she would always use to describe her own daughter.

"Not difficult at all. Impossible!" my grandfather exclaimed as he went on to tell me the only way to describe my mom would be by writing a novel or an epic poem. After a moment of hilarity, I had to get a legitimate answer! After giving him the the amount of compensation he would earn once the article was live, he gave me this beauty, "Other than my wife she's the strongest woman I know." Some ambiguity comes along with such a statement but I understood it as one of the biggest compliments you could give someone. Again, the idea of mirroring comes along but this time through my grandmother and mom. My grandfather must have had patience through the roof to deal with such strong women in his time but I am glad he did because my mom thinks so highly of her dad that this comment will not go without tears!

Lastly, my mom's husband. Three words that would alter my point of view of my mom forever. "Her own woman." Without hesitation or questions, he sent this answer to me and when I began to think about it the more true it became. A single mother with a hustling mentality and an attitude you do not want to cross. Loving and kind to people that treat her with respect but swift to rid herself of people that do not. She is an individual woman that has proved to me time and again that being down does not mean lost or gone but rather waiting for greatness. I love her with everything I have from the moon and back and only as of recently have I discovered how much of herself she has given up to improve my life. Thank you mom.