Today is Mother’s day and for the first time in my entire 24 years of existence I will not have the opportunity to hug my Mother.

I strongly believe we should show our mothers how much we really appreciate and love them in a daily basis rather than once a year. Mi Mami is my hero – she has sacrificed plenty to give my younger sister and I opportunities that she herself did not have growing up. Leaving her home and family to come to this country must have been the most difficult discussion she could have ever made. My mother and I came to this country together each carrying one piece of luggage.

She always reminds me that everything we have now is a blessing and we should be thankful for everything we have been able to achieve. The plan was to reunite with my Papi who had already been in the states for one year, make as much money and return back to Mexico. It has been 21 years and we are still here. My mother is an amazing women who came to a country not knowing the language but after living in this country for 21 years she managed to start up her own business, purchase a house, buy new cars, put her daughters through school, and raise a family without ever letting her legal status affect her in anyway shape or form.

I now understand how she feels being away from her Mother and not being able to visit her mother, family and friends but very well knowing that one day we will be reunited once again. One unique similarity I have with my Mother is that we have the same name and I must say it is an honor and a privilege to be named after a powerful, loving, extraordinary Mujer. If I can one day be half the person she is I would be the luckiest person in the world. My Mother thought she was going to spend today without a daughter, but little does she know that my sister and I planned to fly her in early for Mother’s day. So to my Mami and all Mothers in the world Feliz Dia de las Madres!