Out of all of the special moments Katie Holmes has had with her 13-year-old daughter, Suri Cruise, she’ll never forget the time she left the ballet to pick her up in New York City.

“I think I actually cried. Suri was 6 or 7, and she was spending the night at a friend’s house while I was seeing the ballet at Lincoln Center,” the mom of one recalled to InStyle on Wednesday, March 11. “At 10 [p.m.] I got a call: ‘Mommy, can you come get me?’ I got a cab and went down to Battery Park to pick her up. She was exhausted. She fell asleep on the way home, and when we pulled up to our building, the cab driver opened the door and helped me not wake her. He helped carry her to the building. He was so kind.”

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Katie, 41, described that day as an “incredible moment” in her life because at the time she was finding it hard to live in NYC after divorcing Tom Cruise in 2012. “That time was intense,” she said. “It was a lot of attention.” But thanks to the friendly cab driver and more people she met in the Big Apple, the Batman Begins star was able to get by just fine.

“So many people I didn’t know became my friends and helped us out, and that’s what I love about the city,” she gushed.

Katie also hopes to teach her daughter a thing or two about being comfortable in your own skin. “I love her so much,” the Dawson’s Creek alum gushed. “My biggest goal has always been to nurture her into her individuality. To make sure she is 100 percent herself and strong, confident, and able. And to know it.”

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What the actress loves most about Suri is that the teen is just like her! “She came out very strong. She’s always been a strong personality. She’ll pick an activity and work her butt off until she’s really good at it. Then she’s like, ‘OK, I’m going to try the next thing.’ She’s very focused and a hard worker,” Katie revealed. “She’s pretty special.”