“I love you little peanut,” my grandma says to me every time before we end our call. Just those five words, calm me down in every situation. It’s something about having a grandma, or a Mimi, as she likes me to call her. It’s something so special, that I think it makes my Mom cringe sometimes. But, I think my Mom knows, the relationship between a grandparent and a grandchild is something special. Something she had with her grandma. It’s something so different than any other relationship one will experience. It’s one full of nothing but undeniable and consumable love, trust and endless jokes that will be talked about even after years have past.

My Mimi, the one woman I have looked up to since the day I left the womb and made eye contact with her humorous, strong green eyes as she looked at me with amazement and I looked at her with confusion as she definitely wasn’t like anything that I had saw inside of the incubator I was in for nine months.

The one woman I have aspired to be since I can remember. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mother. Granted, she’s the one who sat in a hospital bed from 4pm to almost 3am, not so patiently waiting for me to make my grand appearance. She’s my right hand. The one I lean on more than anyone. But, my Mimi, she’s just a different story.

The spring that I turned five, Mimi constructed a sunflower circle for me. An actual circle, where the perimeter was nothing but sunflowers and every time I when in the middle, I felt like I was in a different world. She built my creativeness up and created a girl who dreamed of nothing but the stars and everything good in the world.

She continuously supported me through the spunky elementary years, when all I wanted to do was my homework, so I could be the first to raise my hand when Mrs. Chmielewski asked the class questions.

She supported me through the awkward middle school years, when all I wanted to do was listen to Jesse McCartney and Jonas Brothers.

She supported me through the amazing high school years, where I fell so deeply in love with that amazing swimmer that was a grade above me that my head spun around nothing but school and him the entire time.

And then, college came and I realized even more how much of a vital piece she was in the grand scheme my life. I changed my major, with her completely behind me, even though we both knew that it maybe wasn’t the best major for me. But, she was still there, telling me how great of a politician I would be if I stuck with it.

She was there when I experienced the final and real break up with that amazing swimmer who was a grade above me. She listened to me while I spilled my feelings out on the phone with her in the back corner of my college’s library as tears ran down my face almost as fast as he would swim and finish his races.

She was there when I changed my major again and told me that she knew this was the major for me all along, but wanted me to figure it out for myself because she knew I would eventually.

There’s not a day I don’t look back and think about the endless phone calls on her iPhone 6s that she had before I even had it. The endless pep talks she would give me when I thought it was the end of world (even though one time it was because I dropped my ice cream cone on the ground). The daily “good morning” texts, telling me that today was my day, just like it was yesterday and the day before. The “let’s go get lunch” visits that always end up in spontaneous shopping excursions, and at the first “no, it’s okay, you don’t need to buy me that Mimi,” she would respond with the “well, looks like I’m buying it anyways,” with her sassy smile.

Out of all of the people in the world, I know I can count on her to always laugh when I break into a random dance or for a quick pick me up phone call. And for all of these reasons, which are just a small fragment, I’ve never been so grateful for a single soul. A woman who has completely shaped my life and who I am.