This beautiful video of a trans teen learning she can begin hormone therapy will touch your heart

The Internet, as we all know, exists mostly for cat videos and helping us all keep track of the latest developments in pizza deliciousness. Once in a while, though, it surprises even the most cynical among us by showing us something truly beautiful.

Catapulting herself into competition for the Mom of the Year award, Erica Maison filmed a short video of her surprising her transgender daughter Corey with her first dose of hormone therapy. Erica, a mom of five from Detroit, told BuzzFeed News that 14-year-old Corey had been waiting for more than two years to start hormone therapy.

The video shows the pure emotion on Corey’s face when she realizes what’s in the mysterious bag her mom hid behind a pillow.

“I could tell she really had no idea what was happening,” Erica told BuzzFeed. “I was very anxious and couldn’t stop smiling.”

After opening the box — and realizing what’s inside — Corey jumps up from the sofa and disappears, hugging her mom just before the recording ends.

“She squeezed me, and I stopped the camera so I could hug her back,” said Erica. “Neither of us let go for what seemed like an eternity.”

“We were both crying and shaking. She literally took my breath away, as she has never given me a hug like that before. I have never felt so much love from her than that moment. It was a mixture of pure joy and relief from us both.”

“This was it, this was the most pivotal turning point in her life, and we both knew it,” Erica said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW92UlhDVO4

According to her mom, Corey has always been very feminine.

“She loved to dress in high heels and dresses. In public she wore boy clothes — I just assumed she might be gay.”

In fifth grade, Corey was bullied so much that Erica decided to pull her out of school and homeschool her instead. When she was 11, she and Erica found a video of trans YouTube star Jazz Jennings, and Corey said, “Mom, I’m just like her, I AM a girl.”

Three years later, Corey’s doctors gave the family the go-ahead to begin hormone therapy, and on September 24, Erica picked up the first estrogen prescription from the pharmacy.

Erica says she hopes the video will help show other parents and families what life is like for transgender teens.

[Image via YouTube.]