Personal Narrative: My Life In Iowa

One of my strongest memories of our time in Iowa was from the first few weeks that we lived in the rental house. We had moved from the gigantic Georgia house into the cramped, smelly rental house. This move felt really different than the last one. We always knew that we would move but I don’t think that we envisioned us living in Iowa. Ammon was bored (which is never a good sign), Jaci seemed indifferent (which was a pretty good sign) and I was pretty on edge. One day Jaci, Ammon, and I started fighting about something, I don’t remember what, I vaguely remember it being related to the bathroom. Being the good mother that you are, you stopped the fight but it was too late for me; the cumulative effect of everything that had happened over the

past month finally hit and I was suddenly cognizant of how miserable and scared I was. I broke down. You walked me into my room and I thought you would tell me that I needed to be a better example or that I would just have to bear it all for the time being. I don’t know why I thought that, you never responded to my moments of distress like that in the past; instead you did what you always did and held me and let me cry about something as trivial as bathroom storage space, knowing that it was about something deeper than that. What you said to me next was what got me through my next month in Iowa which set the tone for my time there. You told me that you weren’t happy there either but we would make it through and that you would always be there for me.
As I type this it seems trite, this was not the first or last time that you had done something like this, which I have always loved and appreciated. I feels as if you can always see the root of all of my problems even when I cannot and the compassion that you respond with is what makes me a better, more compassionate person. I know you’d say it was your job; but the fact that you have always been in my corner, rooting for me and comforting me when I was in need means the world to me. And although we aren’t supposed to make comparisons between other people, the support and love that you have given me is something that I have seen in few other parents. For this and so much more I thank you.
I know that you gave up a lot to be with your children. You have been and always will be a shining example of what it means to be a choice mother and the impact that you have made on me extends to all of those that I meet.
Love,
Kelly