Some people are closer with one parent than the other, that is not to say you don’t love and respect both, but relationships with parents are tricky, complicated and private. I love my parents to my very core, family means more to me than anything and we are very close.

My mom however is beyond what words can express.

She is one of my best friends and I truly can talk to her about anything, preferably while we are getting a cocktail at Cactus Jacks at 2 in the afternoon 😉 but I will also settle for a short phone call here and there.

But she has done one thing most “parental friends” have trouble doing, she has always remained my mom. She never clouded the boundary of when she was my friend when I needed girl talk and when she was my mom giving me life advice or a scolding. She treads the line with such grace you’d think she was a gymnast on a balance beam.

There is a delicate balance to keeping that authoritative voice while also being an approachable confidante in times of need.

She has been there to support me financially through my undergraduate study, allowing me opportunities that I would not have otherwise been granted, like studying abroad, but she has also inspired me with her work ethic and dedication to build an independent life for myself so I didn’t have to ask for grocery money at the end of the week.

She pushed me to work harder, smarter and with passion to follow my dreams and gain the level of success I desired and she also kept it real with me when I got ahead of myself.

I plan, organize and prepare meticulously for most things in life, and in doing so I have accomplished so much in my short 22 years. These are traits I happily gained from her.

While some view it as controlling, over analyzing uptightness, I view it as the skills and abilities to build a foundation for my future. I saw my mother work harder than anyone I have ever known to be able to give her family the life they deserve. She has sacrificed and has always done what she needed to do and has put every ones’ needs above her own.

That is not to say my mom doesn’t also know how to have fun. She is a great, and responsible, example of work hard play hard. Whether it is going out dancing (thank you for that trait as well), or partying at the river with a beer in hand and shades on. She works hard to be able to relax when she can and laugh endlessly with her family until the tears unwillingly drip down.

She is patient and silly and beautiful and fiercely strong and independent. If I am half as good as she is, I know I have nothing to worry about. Except maybe for her uncontrollable desire to worry about things out of her control, thanks for that….

I know this has been said a million different ways, a million different times about a million different moms, and each time they are all true, but this is my truth.

My mother is the single most incredible woman I have and will ever know.

She is my ride or die.

She is my friend, confidante, supporter, disciplinarian and mentor.

I have led an amazing life thus far and I am pretty damn blessed and happy with where I have been and where I am going, and none of it would have been possible with Stacia Doyle.

Thank you for the life you have given me and the life you have taught me to live.