Raising a child is never easy. Raising one by yourself is even harder. Me? I got lucky, not only did I have an amazing mother to raise me, I had a caring grandmother who stepped in and did everything she could to help us when we needed it.

For the first thirteen years of my life, it was just mom and I. Then it suddenly wasn't. Then there was suddenly a small little munchkin in our lives and I love her more than anything. She's my little sister. So then there were three. It was kind of like having two mothers in my life,so it was kind of nice. Things definitely got crazy sometimes having so many women around , but we made it work. I loved spending time with both of them. I've always been extremely close to both of them ,just in different ways. Of course my mother has always been one of my best friends in life. She was the one who taught me that boys are going to break your heart and I didn't believe her and when it finally happened she was there to pick up the pieces. She taught me to never let anyone, especially a boy make me feel like I was only important or loved at his convenience. She saw the bad in my friends and people in general before even I did. From our conversations no mother and daughter are expected to have, to her sending me weird pictures to me while I'm busy ,to her making fun of my friends and making them laugh hysterically.

My grandmother tried to teach me how to act like a lady, she tried really hard. Was she successful? I mean kind of? It's more of I chose to surround myself with all guy friends and they seem to like that I can hang and not be all uptight so I mean she mostly achieved her goal because I can act proper when it counts. So this is a huge thank you to the two amazing women who raised me, I love both of you more than words can say. Mom , I might be turning twenty this year, and not the baby anymore, but I will always be your Maemae, I love you.

Nana, I may be almost 2,000 miles away but I'll always be your Rosebud and I'll always love you to the moon and back.