I have both dreaded and loved the thought of writing something for my mother. If anyone knows anything about me, they know my mother is my world. But before I go into my appreciation for her and everything she does, let me talk about a special memory that I personally have.

The moment I realized the presence of my mother was so special wasn't even with her. I was 12 years old and at my best friend at the time's house. I randomly saw a picture hanging in her house and it really got me thinking. The picture was a quote by Abraham Lincoln that stated "all that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." I stopped and looked at the words, reading them over and over again, taking in every single stitched letter on the yellow background. That was the moment I realized that my mother isn't a permanent person on this earth and, like everyone, there will come a day that she will not be here. This terrifies me more than anything and brings me to tears, even to this day.

When people ask me my biggest fear, I always say something like spiders or being alone. In reality, the real fear I have is the one that will eventually become a reality. I will eventually have to go on about my days without my mother. One day I am going to wake up and not be able to call her, or smell her scent, or hug her, or hear her voice. I've thought about dying first because that seems easier than having to go a day without her walking this earth. The simple thought of my mother leaving me is probably the most challenging thought I will ever have to process.

My mother is just about the strongest person on I have ever met. There is no other human that would get needles in their back for 90 days just for someone they have never met, let alone someone who turns out to be me. There is no other human that would be okay with all the risks that she has to take in order to put me into her life. And yet she tells me that, if she could, she would go back to 1997 and do it all over again.

There is no other person that decides that after 6 years of college schooling, getting two degrees, and having her dream job of teaching kindergarten children, she drops all of that just to get to know my brother and I and take care of us. Then she gets a whole lot of crap about staying home and not doing anything with her life.

But here is a message to them: I would not be half the person I am today if my mother was not home. I would not know how to rely on someone else while being independent. I would not know how to keep a house spotless. I would not know how to handle situations in the mature and right way. I would not know the importance of family and the way it feels to get a hug every single morning. And to anyone that still has something to say about the choices my mother has made, then don't let the door hit you on the way out.

*Sigh* I usually have a very easy time being able to write. The words usually come naturally and flow very well, but this has definitely been the most difficult topic to talk about. My appreciation for my mother goes far beyond the words I put in an article on a website. Every single phone call, hug, and "I love you" tells a different story that I can never fully explain.

Ed Sheeran recently released his album "Divide" and on the album he dedicates a lot of the songs to his mother. He shows his appreciation for her through his music and lyrics, and I wish that I was capable of doing something like that. Also the song "Supermarket Flowers" was about his mom and it made me gross cry, but that's a different story.

But for now, I have these simple words. I love you, mom. You are the best mother a girl could ask for. You are my best friend, my person. Thank you for making me the person I have become. I hope to have changed you in a lot of ways, because you have changed me for good.