When I was younger, my mom and I never got along. I had an attitude, and thought I was smarter than everyone. When she was really upset, she would tell me that I was just like my father, which felt like knives stabbing deeper and deeper into my back.

However, throughout the pandemic, we became closer. We built trust and a real relationship. I can go to her with anything, good or bad, and trust that she will be there for me. She never dismisses my feelings and always tries to help. I couldn’t imagine a life without my person, my mom.

As I’ve matured, I’ve realized everything my mother and I have gone through together. When she was in labor, we both almost didn’t make it. It was a rough pregnancy; she was always sick. She had to go on an early maternity leave and stay at her parents house while my father went to work because she couldn’t be left alone. When she went into labor, they gave her an epidural, and the heart monitors started beeping rapidly, synchronized with our hearts, too fast, and I still was not ready to come out. The doctors gave her more medicine to induce labor, but our hearts slowed, and wouldn’t pick up again. We were both declining rapidly, so the doctors had to immediately perform an emergency C-section. As I came into the bright, new world, I was blue. I wasn’t breathing, and my mom was on the table, trying to survive, as was I. Both of our hearts, trying to continue on for the other.

That wasn’t the only time I almost lost my mother. I have three younger siblings. None of the pregnancies were easy, however my youngest sister’s was the worst. During my mother’s third C-section, she went into cardiac arrest. As my father was getting food in the cafeteria, he heard the blaring alarm, and the piercing voice on the intercom saying “Code Blue in surgery,” over and over. My mom almost didn’t make it. She had to learn how to talk, walk, and perform daily functions again, while she had three toddlers, and a newborn baby. I can barely remember this time of our lives, but I vividly remember how happy I was that my mom would be home when I came home from school, and the smell of homemade cookies baking in the oven. I had no idea why she wasn’t working, but I sure was glad that I had her around. 

My mom is my best friend, and I don’t know what I would do without her. She is my idol and I aspire to make her proud. She takes care of everyone and always puts others' needs before hers. She loves her job and her family, she always strives to achieve greatness, and she unconditionally loves her children. I cannot imagine a world without her, and I am so incredibly lucky to have such an amazing role model in my life.