I’m taking a brief pause in the My Story series (okay, not a series… it’s going to be, like, two or three posts) to dedicate a post to my mom on this Mother’s Day because, all things considered, she’s an overachiever when it comes to raising a child with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

I’m not exactly an easy person to deal with. One day, I could be cheery and ready to take on the world. The next day, I could be freaking out about every little thing and snap at anything people say to me, whether they intended to offend me or not. My mother has weathered it all: the ups and downs, the inside outs, and the “I don’t know what’s going on and I’m all over the place” moments when any comment could be taken as shots fired across the bow. There are times where she’s had to put me in check. Just because I have several disorders doesn’t mean I have an excuse to forget my manners; there are things I can control, including how I react to any given situation. You could be an established resident of CrazyTown, and your mother will still smack you upside the head when you sass her.

Her patience is overwhelming. I don’t know how she does it. Honestly, I don’t. I guess that secret will stay with her because I don’t want to ask the question and find out that the answer is “Whiskey, dear.” (My mom doesn’t drink at all, so I know this isn’t the answer, but wouldn’t it be funny if it was?)

No, come to think of it… I think I do know what it is. It’s her faith.

My mother is the rock that the family has built their faith on, despite the fact that my dad is a pastor. She has never wavered or faltered. When things seem hopeless, she always has the confidence to pull through. My dad couldn’t be a luckier man to have a strong heart like her for a wife. And that is where her patience comes from. She’s never been one to say “Woe is me! My life is so stressful!” She takes any situation by the horns and faces it head on. God is present in every part of her daily life.

And then there’s me on the other side of the aisle, acting like the apocalypse is upon us whenever my car won’t start. Nuclear war breaks out every time I lose my car keys.

I just want her to know that life would be unimaginable without her. I want her to know that she’s everything I want to be someday. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. You’re my role model and my hero.