As Mother’s Day quickly approaches, it is time to pay tribute to mother-like figures in our lives. Loving, supporting and forgiving us through everything we do, moms and mother-like figures deserve more than what one day has to offer.

From infancy to adulthood, they never leave our side, supporting us, helping us make life-altering decisions and showing unconditional love. Mother’s Day is one out of 365 days dedicated to those who are like moms to us.

We want to say thank you to those who raise us even when we argue, to those who discipline us even when we do not think that we need to be disciplined, and to those who deserve more than a bouquet of flowers and a thank-you card. As children, we owe you our life, and we do not mean figuratively.

More often than not, growing up, those who are like mothers boast to their friends and share our life story until we turn blush red. We often complain and say that we wish they wouldn’t, but deep down we know that if they didn’t boast about how proud they always were of us, our lives wouldn’t feel complete.

We, as your children, know that when we fall and we get hurt, it hurts you. Whether that fall is literal or figurative, it hurts you either way, and we get back up and we try again.  We fall until we succeed, yet it still hurts until we reach that moment of success.

We often don’t think or account for the thousands of sleepless nights, where you wondered if we were fine and if we were healthy because you were always there and always cared. You showed mercy, and I hope that one day we can show the same mercy and be as caring as you are.

We hope to one day repay the debt to you and give you more than flowers and a card, and we hope to express this the other 364 days.

So, here is a thank you to all the mother-like figures in our life that get us out of trouble when we need it and are the ones that we never hesitate to tell a thing. Happy Mother’s Day! We hope you know that one day your trials and tribulations will be triumphs, and we will repay our debt to you.