Growing up, I always felt so happy and safe in my home. In elementary school, I loved swinging with my mom at the park. Through my preteen years, I loved going shopping with my mom and getting her opinion on my outfits. In high school, though I would never admit it outright, I loved getting home from sports practices and seeing my mom at the dinner table ready to eat and discuss the day’s activities. Once I moved off to college, I loved the fact that I could call my mom after a hard or lonely day and feel so valued. I think the first week of college I called her 78 times.
Though I am now a working woman, I still love the thought of going home. Now I am 22 and I still love running through the front door and seeing my mom there on the couch. I love jumping on the couch and just lying there by her. We talk about my drive. Then we talk about the guy I like. Then we talk about my questions about the girl I am studying the Bible with. Then we talk about the plan for the day. I still forget to ask how she is doing, but she always seems too happy to talk about my life. I don’t think there is anyone who is as eager to hear about my life as my mom. She laughs harder than anyone at my jokes, cares deeply about my decisions, and remembers details I forget. She makes me feel like the President of the United States.
Though my “home” is changing from Connecticut to Rhode Island (since my parents are helping with a mission team) I know that “home” is wherever my parents are. I know that I will feel comfortable and at ease wherever I see them. This makes the move a little easier for me to bear!
I can honestly say that I am honored to be an Allen. To be associated with a woman of such deep love, great faith, and consistent joy gives me deep satisfaction. Though I can never express my feelings about my mom as well as I’d like, I am so grateful for the woman my mother was, is, and will be.
Jenna is a member of the Metro region of the Boston Church of Christ.
