Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Honors Mom In A Letter Guaranteed To Make You Cry

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s wrote the most beautiful thank you note to her supporters

Can we all just agree that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez officially wins the internet? She breaks down policies while eating mac and cheese on Instagram stories. She eloquently and fiercely hits back at her (extremely harsh) critics on Twitter. And she posted the most incredible, inspiring thank you note to her supporters that will make you cry so many happy tears.

Ocasio-Cortez took to Instagram to share a picture of herself being sworn into Congress, alongside her mother. “What can I possibly say except thank you?” she began. “So many people sacrificed so much for this to happen – my mother most of all.”

The youngest congresswoman in history detailed the immense struggles that her mom faced while raising her family.

“Mami mopped floors, drove school buses, + answered phones,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “She did whatever she needed to do, for me. When my father died, she was left a single mother of 2, and again she had to start over. After he passed we almost lost our home, so we sold it and started over. & over. & over.”

The family reached a point where everything in life felt hopeless – there were so many “do-overs” and they felt “too spiritually spent.” Ocasio-Cortez was working as a waitress and starting to feel as if she didn’t have much of a future. Once, she fell asleep on the train and a thief stole all of her earnings.

“That day I locked myself in a room and cried deep: I had nothing left to give, or to be,” she wrote. “And that’s when I started over. I honestly thought as a 28 year old waitress I was too late; that the train of my fulfilled potential had left the station.”

But it definitely, definitely wasn’t too late. Ocasio-Cortez wrote about the powerful, incredible moment when she was sworn into congress, alongside her mother who had struggled so hard for her.

“As I raised my hand for the oath, my mother held the holy book & looked into @SpeakerPelosi’s eyes,” she recalled. “Afterwards, the Speaker said to her ‘you must be so proud,’ and my mother began to cry.”

Watch that moment for yourself, and feel all the good, warm feelings.

Ocasio-Cortez noted that in order to succeed, we all need to lean on each other for support. “It was not long ago that our family’s hope was so dim it was barely an ember,” she said. “Darkness taught me transformation cannot solely be an individual pursuit, but also a community trust.”

So, really, she just wanted to thank every single person for helping her through this long, difficult journey.

“Whether it was late nights, hard days, pocket change, emotional investment, hard & soft skills, door knocking in the heat or petitioning in the bitter cold – we did this together,” Ocasio-Cortez concluded.