Marco Estrada remembers only a few things about Sonora, Mexico, where he was born. His little house on the short street where he grew up. The handful of toddler friends and the dusty yard out front where they played. The bodega up the road. No car, no air conditioning, no TV. Just a nice, simple life.

But what he remembers most is the day his mom, Silvia Mariza Estrada, started packing his things and told him they were heading north. Estrada’s aunt, Norma, had already made that move with her husband, settling in Sylmar, Calif., and sent word that they had space to take in her sister and five-year-old Marco. Estrada’s father was long gone; he left when Marco was too young to make memories. Estrada couldn’t tell you what he looks like; couldn’t tell you his name. All Estrada knows is he has a half-brother and sister out there somewhere. They contacted him once when he was in his early twenties but he never figured out how to reach them. He wants to meet them someday. Maybe when baseball’s over. And his father? “Him,” Estrada says, “I couldn’t care less about.”

Once they were stateside, Silvia worked long, demanding days as a nanny for wealthy Beverly Hills families. She left early in the morning and came back well into the night, leaving Marco with Norma, who made sure he got to school and stayed out of trouble. Silvia had just two primary rules for Marco while she was gone: He had to listen to everything Norma told him, and he absolutely had to do something organized and productive with his time once school was over. No sitting around at home; no idling outside some convenience store. Estrada chose baseball. And about a quarter of a century later, he got to do something he’s been waiting for his entire life: He told his mom she doesn’t have to work anymore.

The two-year, $26-million contract Estrada signed this past off-season helped with that. It was a fitting reward for the Blue Jays starter, who, at the age of 31, became one of the most quietly dominant in baseball last season, pitching to the fifth-best ERA in the American League and finishing 10th in Cy Young voting. It certainly took him a while to get there, through more than 10 years of pro ball, two trades and a bevy of changes to his mechanics and arsenal. But you can trace everything he’s accomplished back to Silvia’s unwavering work ethic and determination for her son to make something of himself.

“My wife and I, we’ve got two kids,” Estrada says. “And some days it can be extremely difficult raising them. So I can’t imagine what my mom must have gone though doing it all by herself.”

Estrada’s had a lot of validating moments lately, from proving he belongs in the Blue Jays rotation, to starting crucial post-season games, to being named an all-star for the first time in 2016. But giving something back to the person who gave everything to him was the biggest moment of all. “My mom did an incredible job. Over time, you learn to appreciate these things—how hard she’s worked her entire life,” Estrada says. “Getting to tell her she doesn’t have to do that anymore, that was extremely satisfying. It meant everything. It was the best moment of my career.”