I am definitely my mother's daughter

I am definitely my mother's daughter. We are very much alike because of the strong influence she has had on my life. From both of our love of going to the movies to matching ideas we have towards politics.

When I was younger I was the child that was attached to their mother's hip. I remember wanting to always be near her. I always wanted to sit on the same side of the booth as her at restaurants and loved sitting on her lap to eavesdrop on the conversations she had with her friends.

However, when I became older and was an adolescent, my longing to be right next to her changed. It changed because she began substituting at my school in 7th grade and continued substituting for my grade level in 8th and 9th grade, too. It seemed now that she was the one attached to my hip.

Then when I became a sophomore she became a math teacher at the high school I attended and was there for my junior and senior year too, teaching what it seemed to be mainly my grade level each year. My mom wasn't the average teacher that you only saw in the classroom either. She was everywhere — a chaperone at all the school dances, held season tickets to the Allen Eagle Football games, and did everything imaginable to be an active teacher. She was an Allen Eagle super fan; once she didn't allow my younger sister to have her birthday party on a Friday because that would mean she would have to miss an away football game. I came to a point where I felt I had an overload of my mom and thought she was taking over my space.

At the end of this six-year period where she was always at the school I was at and every school function, I decided I needed to go as far away as I could for college.

Currently, I am at student at Bethany College in West Virginia a distance a way from my mother, who lives at home in Allen, Texas. However, now I realize I am still the girl that wanted to always sit in her lap. Even though my attitude seemed to change towards her through my years of growing up, I know I admire her. She has taught me many things that have shaped me into the person I am today. My involvement in church and in ministry I feel stemmed from her influence on me. Whether it was her always telling me of the importance of being kind or the movies that she took me to that pulled at my heartstrings. She was the first to show me how to practice tolerance, spread love, and promote peace.

I love my mother and hope to become more like her as I continue to grow.

Rebekah Cypert is in her third year as a HELM Leadership Fellow and is a member of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in McKinney, Texas.