Dear Mom,
You are, without a doubt, the single most important woman to ever enter my life. I consider you to be my very best friend and a person that I am never afraid to run to for comfort. Leaving you to start my next chapter at university truly broke my heart in half. During the summer, I would often sob as I shared my fears that once I left, you wouldn’t need me as much in your life anymore. Although I was correct in believing that our relationship would be altered due to distance, it has only grown stronger.
During my freshman fall semester, I am pretty sure that I texted you at least 80 times every 10 minutes. I really struggled to find quality friends in university and always felt unwanted and unloved by those around me. Although I wasn’t physically around you, you always prioritized me by soothing me during one of my many breakdowns. In my spring semester, I have become slightly more comfortable living out on my own, but that does not mean that I don’t need you anymore. I look forward to your affirmational texts and motivational Pinterest pictures every single morning.
As I am writing this, you are taking precious time out of your busy schedule to help me pick out my upcoming classes for the fall semester. I am so blessed to have you as a mother and I truly pity those who do not know you. I have no qualms about being my truest self around you because you have shown numerous times that you wholeheartedly accept and love me for who I am. However, there are certain times that you want me to undergo some character development that I, being the wise eighteen-year-old that I am, do not always listen to right away. Don’t worry, I’ll eventually end up agreeing with you because I have learned that you are pretty much always right.
I grew up as a child of the world, not just of America. I was born into a military homeschooling family, which allowed me to broaden my cultural perspective. You raised me to treat everyone with kindness, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. I really love the fact that I was exposed to such diversity in my childhood because it allows me to appreciate the beauty that lies in our differences. I also remember that you wanted me to learn Italian and Latin during our three years in Naples, Italy. Unfortunately, the only phrases that I can remember are “ciao bella,” “buongiorno,” and “amo, amas, amat.”
Sometimes, I can’t help crying when I think about how much I miss you. As you are the first member of your family to graduate from college, you constantly impress me with your brilliance. Thank you so much for reading over my college essays and Her Campus articles and for advising me on how best to tackle statistics. You always encourage me in my studies and remind me that I am beautiful by exclaiming that there is no way that you could ever create something that is hideous. I miss your homecooked meals and our weekly routines of munching popcorn as we binge-watch This is Us. Thank you for always loving me.
Everyone who meets you absolutely adores you because you have an incredible way of highlighting their best qualities. You are so important to me and I hope that one day, I can be half the woman that you are.
I love you so much,
Kalijah Autumn Rahming.
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