Hey Ma,

How's it going? Happy Mother's Day! Here's a little letter to express my gratitude because I know being my mom hasn't always been easy.

Where do I even start? I think I first want to say is thank you. Thank you for everything you sacrificed for Nancy and I. Thank you for teaching us the value of hard work at a very young age. Thank you for paving the way, and taking the bullet so that I could have everything I ever wanted and needed out of life.

I remember when you left us with Grandma Godenzia and told us that you were going to visit some relatives and you'd be back in a few days. About two days later you called and told us you were in the United States. I was five. I was too young to fully understand what that meant, all I could think at that time was that you'd abandoned me. I couldn't help but wonder if it was something I'd done that drove you to leave, and go to the other side of the world.

From then on, Nancy and I had to develop a sense of independence at a much younger age than our friends. We had no choice because Godenzia, bless her soul, had very little patience. I distinctly remember everyone in school and church would tell us how lucky we were to have a mother who was in America, the land flowing with milk and honey, but all I could think was how lucky they were to be raised by their mothers, and to have their mothers around. All these thoughts were because I was far too young to understand the sacrifice you made to get to us to where we are today.

Now I understand that even though America was the land of milk and honey, you had to work extremely hard to get a mere taste. Leaving Kenya with nothing but an empty purse, and landing in New Jersey with no knowledge of anyone in this foreign country or what your future held was so courageous and must have been so incredibly frightening! I cannot fathom half of what you were experiencing as you stepped off that plane into what was now your new life.

You somehow managed! Further evidence of God's greatness. Even though you had to work numerous menial jobs to make sure that Nancy and I had the best education and living experience back home (Kenya), you still managed! I know that some of the people you worked for were racist, rude and unfair, but you had to stick it out because what other choice did you have? They would report you if you didn't and deportation wasn't an option. You'd worked too hard to get this far, so you stuck it out. You went hungry and worked 24/7 (literally) to make sure that you had enough money to send back to your children to ensure their safety, well-being and happiness.

"Thank you" doesn't even begin to cover the amount of gratitude and love that I have for you. It's always been tough for you, from a drunk and abusive husband, to no source of income, to making the hardest decision of your life of leaving your children behind, you never gave up. It would have been so easy for you to just quit, and let us become another tragic statistic, but you didn't. When life got tough, you prayed and kept pushing through.

My resilience comes from you.

My strength comes from you.

My passion comes from you.

My insight and maturity comes from you.

Greatest of all, my understanding that I am not defined by all the obstacles that life throws my way, but by how I choose to deal with them and how I choose to get right back up, comes from you.

You are my rock, my best friend, my protector, my number one supporter and the best reminder that with God, all things are possible.

Thank you.