It starts at the beginning.

To the woman who made the nightmares disappear, the wounds heal with love, and the heartbreaks bearable. The woman who encouraged me to cry and held me tight. The woman who would always wake me up so that I had time to get ready for school. Who would never need to raise her voice to show she was mad. The woman who would move heaven and earth to protect the ones she loved. My mother.

This letter is not just to tell you how great of a mother you are but how extraordinary a woman you are to me. You have conquored life, love and happiness. It allows me to have hope that I will succeed in your image.

You have had your challenges in life.You have not only lived through the tests life threw at you but you survived them. Surviving is the true test. It is how you live up to your legacy, how you handle your present and how you work for your future.

You are, by nature, a shy and modest woman. On the other hand, you are head strong and assertive. You know what your vision is and you work towards it. You allow yourself to fall to learn the lessons to then teach your children.

You have seen all aspects of life. Love, loss, happiness, good and bad times. You have pulled yourself up and made yourself continue onwards. You never gave up, you never surrendered; you haven't let me either. You have taught me so much without realizing it.

Of course you taught me right from wrong, all mothers have taught their children this. You have taught me how to fight, stand up and love myself. You have taught me that it is okay to be my own person, to have no crutch, and do what I love. You taught me that passion is power and that passion should not be set on the back burner but embraced.

live a happy and healthy life because you have taught me how.

I live a successful life because you taught me to work for what I want.

I live a life worth writing about because you have enabled my imagination to run wild.

I am so blessed that I have a mother like you. Everyone says we look and act alike. This is the greatest compliment I could ever receive. You are beautiful, intelligent, loving, and caring. You put others before yourself without questions asked. You are always a phone call away when I need you most. You have been my rock, my best friend, and my role model since day one. I know sometimes it doesn't seem like it but I will always need my mother. Your level head, your reason, your logic.

You are the reason I am who I am and I want to thank you for it all. I resemble the strongest woman I know because she has taught me all the ways to be strong. You make the world a better, brighter, and safer place to be in by just being you.

This letter is to show you how I feel about you. My words seem easier to convey with a keyboard. I am able to form the clearest picture of just how much you mean to me and all the things I am so grateful I have developed because of you. If I end up being half the woman you are, then I would think that that is success in itself. You are the goal, the clear picture of success, love, and happiness. I wish you all three of these for the rest of your glorious life ahead.