I was eighteen when I realized that love isn’t just about saying thank you. Sometimes, it’s about standing up—publicly and unapologetically—for the person who spent their entire life standing up for you.

The idea began simply. My senior prom was approaching, and while my friends obsessed over dates and dresses, I kept thinking about my mom, Emma. She had me when she was seventeen. Before I was born, she was just another high school girl dreaming about dances, dresses, and a future that felt limitless. Then she got pregnant, and every one of those dreams quietly disappeared. Continue reading…