I sit on the couch, wrapped in a throw blanket, my eyes glued to the TV screen. My stomach is in knots as the main character inches towards a large door, moments away from discovering the murderer. 

I hold my breath and lean forward, my heart rate increasing as every second passes. 

“Sukirtha!” a voice yells into my ear. 

I jump up and trip over the blanket, falling down just as the killer’s face is revealed. As I get up and reorient myself, I see my mom standing behind me, struggling to hold in her laughter. 

Annoyance and anger quickly take over as I lunge towards her, but she is already running away. I chase after her for a few minutes until we both realize that neither of us know how the movie ended, so we end up back where we started: on the couch wrapped up in throw blankets. 

It is moments like this that remind me of how close I am to my mom, Shanmugapriya Ramakrishnan. As cliché as it sounds, no matter what happens between us, it doesn’t change the fact that my mom is my best friend. 

She is my role model and my number one supporter. She is my critic and my confidant; my late-night homework buddy and my ever-interested audience.   

This connection, in part, is because we have such vastly different personalities due to our experiences. 

Stemming from her childhood in India, my mom has always emphasized the importance of putting in the work to ensure the best possible outcome. Whether it be washing the dishes by hand or preparing weeks in advance for an important task at work, I have always admired my mom’s work ethic and attention to detail. 

I also know that nothing matters to my mom more than family. Regardless of her opinions or differences, she is always the first person to step up and have our backs. 

As she likes to say, “Friends will be there for us, but family comes first.” 

Over the years, my mom and I unintentionally designated mystery-thriller movies to be our way of bonding. With every plot twist and jump scare, comes a shared moment of fear. With every confusing storyline comes a collective curiosity. With every cliff-hanger comes an hour-long debrief detailing our predictions for the next movie. 

With every second we spend together, come the memories that we will cherish forever.

And I couldn’t ask for anyone better.

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