After nearly two years of not seeing her, I was so happy that I was able to bring my mom as my date to the @glamourmag WOTY awards ceremony earlier this week and Yin’s mom as hers, these are two of the most selfless women I have ever known 💕 *domestic violence trigger warning* My mom is a survivor of domestic violence. Throughout the marriage to my estranged father she (and us kids) were often attacked for no reason--we used to get guns pulled at us, beat with the metal head of water hoses, pushed down the stairs etc... But despite all of his abuses, she never took it out on us and continued to be our biggest cheerleader even when it was continually engrained into all of us that unless we did what he wanted us to, we would never amount to anything. It's all thanks to the incredible group of women (my aunts and her friends) surrounding and supporting her/us which gave her the strength and safety net to leave him and in turn providing a safe space for her kids. This is a true testament to the power of survival and sisterhood. The abuse and control forced her to put her own dreams aside, I can still vividly recall driving with her when she would share her past dreams with me (opening up and roasting her own coffee and setting up a coffee shop—this was WAY before Starbucks, pursuing art/writing (she’s a fantastic painter) and opening up her own tiny cafe. Though she's now in her mid 60's and, never got the chance to pursue entrepreneurship, she has started completely over and re-found and unlocked this beautiful independence that was locked up for decades. She's the strongest woman I know. She's my hero. To me she is perfection; she’s beauty, strength and who through such a rough past has always been the biggest cheerleader of her children. She’s who I think of when I need my own strength to keep moving forward. Thank you to @glamourmag wonderful EIC @sambarry Barry and the entire advisory committee for welcoming our moms and allowing us to experience a night full of sisterhood, support, and community it meant more then you'd ever know 🙏