We are surrounded by strong and beautiful women in today's society.

I am fortunate enough to call some of them family.

Aunts don't get enough credit. They're called your "distant" relatives, not your immediate. Yet, I immediately text one of them if anything happens to me (good or bad). I immediately call them if I need a reminder that I am loved and that I always have someone in my corner. And I believe that they would immediately drop everything and anything if I ever needed them.

To my aunts, thank you.

Thank you for being my support system. Thank you for treating me as if I was your daughter. Thank you for being role models to me from showing me how to carry myself to teaching me how to love with my entire heart. Thank you for giving me another home to go to whether I needed it because my power and heat were out, or I just needed someone to take care of me. Thank you for never judging me, even though you have seen me in my worst moments. Thank you for being my own personal fan club. Thank you for the hugs, kisses, and deep conversations. Thank you for showing interest in the things that I am passionate about, even if you don't share the same fire when it comes to that particular subject. Thank you for encouraging me to fly, but being my safe place to land.

I hope that I am at least half of the woman you are.

You embody grace, confidence, heart, and beauty. You make everyone feel welcome. You make people feel at home. You taught me the importance of family. You give me the confidence to be myself and show who I am to the world. Half of you have taught me how to keep my emotions at bay when needed, while the other half have taught me that it's okay to not be okay. Without you, I wouldn't be who I am.

I could continue writing three encyclopedia-length books about how much you mean to me, but I wouldn't even begin to scrape the surface. So, I will just leave it at this: I hope that one day I can look in the mirror and say that I am just like you. And I love you more than words will ever be able to express.