It’s always been my mom and me. From the time I was born I’ve always had her. My dad’s out of the picture, and even after she got married to my step dad, she and I have had a bond unlike any other. She was born in Shreveport, LA and then moved to Las Vegas with her mom after her parents divorce. She’s always been an athlete, she played every sport you could imagine, but always got second place in track to the same girl and remembers her name to this day. Living with her mom she had a job and paid the bills her mom couldn’t cover. She finished her high school education and then graduated — debt free I might add — with an English major from the University of Las Vegas. At 23, right after she graduated college, my mom had me. I was named after one of the witches in Practical Magic. She decided to leave Las Vegas because she wanted me to be raised somewhere better and she needed to get out too. She left all her friends and her job to move to Austin with her mom. Soon after moving and getting a job she met my soon to be step-dad at work and they quickly got married and had my little sister, Grace.

When I was in fifth grade, my mom began playing roller derby for TXRD and became co-captain of her team by her second season. She inspired me to join the junior derby league, which I soon had to retire due to a really bad knee injury. During my first hospital visit my mom told me that she would never lie to me as long as I never lied to her, and we have both done our best to hold that promise. The day of my surgery she started a new job, but she still came to kiss my forehead and held my hand before I went under. She continued to skate for a few more years and then retired only to join back up a few years later with a new team. After I started high school, our relationship changed. It blossomed into a mother-daughter-friendship that I could have never expected. I tell her everything and she does the same to me. Every day in the car I would sit shotgun and tell her about my entire day, class by class, everything that happened and she would just sit and listen, chiming in to let me know she was listening. My mom knew that when I talked about my days it made me feel better. During a serious mental health battle, she put up with all my drama. I was horrible to be around and sometimes I got to her, but at the end of the day all she wanted was for her baby to be ok. She gave up so much for me to be ok. My mom allows me to express myself in whatever mediums I want, just as long as I don’t hurt myself or others and clean up when I’m done. My mom has purple hair, piercings and all kinds of tattoos, so when I started wanting to copy her she took me do all of it. I have colored hair, a few piercings and a tattoo–and she was there with me to get all of it done. My mom is one of the most strong, accepting people I’ve ever known and will ever know and I hope one day to be like her.