Writer's statement: I titled this letter to my Mom “My Mother, my Hero” because as you can tell from this piece, she has always been my hero and always will be my hero. My piece connects to the pandemic because even during this horrific time in our lives, my mom is continuously making my family, her friends, and her coworkers smile and laugh which is the best medicine right now. She is also putting her life at risk for us by going to get groceries and being completely selfless with everything she does by putting our needs before hers. I chose to submit this type of response because I wanted to show my mom this piece so she can see how much she means to me because without her, I don’t know how I would live. My inspiration was just my mom in general because when I think of the word hero, she’s the first person that pops into my mind. I hope that the audience will just understand to be grateful for what you have and who you have because one day, they are going to be gone and you aren’t going to remember the people who treated you badly. You're going to remember the people who had a good impact on your life, so go do something nice for them everyday because just doing small acts of kindness will show them that you don’t take them for granted. Respect the people that respect you. Those are the people who will stay in your life forever whether it’s family or not. I regret not spending as much time with people who have passed in my life, so stay close with them before it’s too late.

Dear Mama,

My mother. The woman who has been with me since birth. Within fifteen years of raising me, I have never seen a flaw in your parenting. Sure, we may argue and yell, or occasionally slam a door or two, but you have never held a grudge. You made sure I went to school on time, made sure I was always at day care, made sure that I never went through a minute of hunger, and have always stuck by my side. You are my constant. Friends, significant others, and just people in general tend to leave nowadays. It seems that ‘real love’ and ‘friendship’ is based on looks, intelligence, and popularity. With you, you would give anyone the world if all they said to you was a nice ‘hello’ and a hug. You’ll open my door and peer in with the biggest grin just because your’e happy to see me. You will sit with me for hours on end while tears are streaming down my face just so you can make sure I am okay, even when you have work piled up, you’ll put it on hold just to listen to me rant. I love our car rides where we blast music until you say ‘okay, time to listen to my kind of music now’ and I begin to sigh because I know you're turning on the oldies. I love when you hold me in your arms and tell me ‘you’ll be okay’. I love how no matter where we are, we laugh and joke around with each other. And I love you. I love your smile, your eyes, your heart, your laugh, and your ability to respect anyone because as you always say, ‘I will always treat people the way I want to be treated’. You have taught me more than any teacher ever has. You have taught me how to live and how to handle hard situations. How to stand up to people and how to never play the victim. You have taught me every way around life and how to get through it, and I will never be able to thank you enough for it; but I can say this. Mama, you are my number one. To some people, number one is represented with a trophy or a medal. To others it may be with a badge or to stand on a podium proud and tall. For me, it means everything great into one. You have the gift of having every amazing quality and the highest amount of strength that you don’t need a trophy or a medal to represent how amazing you are, because you yourself already represent number one. I love you mom, more than you will ever know, and you will forever be my number one hero as you are to many others. Out of all things I’m proud of myself for, being your daughter has to be the thing I put first.