I See You Now- An Ode to my Mother

For My Mother, Tracey Estelle Anbiya

I call her Mom.
Those who know her best call her TEA — a name as smooth and strong as she is.

My mother is a quiet rebel.
She does what she wants, gets what she wants, but never at the expense of anyone else.
She is steady, forward-thinking, deeply considerate — true to herself without ever forgetting the people around her.

Now that I’m older — a mother myself — I understand things I couldn’t before.
The sacrifices she made.
The battles she fought in silence.
The life she built with her own hands, with no shortcuts, no handouts — a life no one can ever take from her.
And through it all, she stayed herself. Fiercely. Unapologetically.

Our relationship hasn’t always been easy.
Like most daughters, I spent years feeling misunderstood, pulling away, trying to find my own way.
But looking back, I realize — she was trying to give me the wisdom she had to earn the hard way.
I didn’t always listen.
So, like her, I had to learn the hard way too.
Today, I listen differently. I carry her words with me.

One of the greatest lessons she’s ever taught me is simple, but not easy:
Do good for people because you can. Not because you expect anything in return.
She believes people are worth it.
Worth the time, worth the effort, worth the love — no strings attached.
That’s a kind of strength I’m still learning to live up to.

Mother’s Day, to me, is about the way she’s shown up — not just for me as her daughter, but for me as a woman.
As a Black woman.
In ways that were never loud, that were only ever known between us, but changed the course of who I am.

If there's one thing i want her to know today, it would be this:
Thank you for never giving up on me.
Even when it was hard.
Even when I made it harder.
I get it now.
I’m still growing, still learning — but I see you.
And I love you more than I have words for.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.