Something I always hear from my friends is that their parents want them to call home more — that could never be me. I call my parents before I even know what I want to talk about. In October, I called my mom and dad a total of 24 times, but if I had it my way it would be more like 48. My mom genuinely is my best friend — she just gets me in a way that nobody else does. I’d classify my July as a “Hannah Montana Summer”, because all I did was relax and hang out with my family. If you snapchatted me in July, I probably responded while watching The Price is Right with my mom, doing random work with my dad, bird-watching and gardening with my grandparents, or chasing around my baby cousins with their awesome mom, Maddie.
Some people may ask me, “Christina, why are you homesick in your junior year?” and the answer is simple — I love and miss my family more and more each year. Being the young baby of a family has its perks, specifically going to school with your older brother. John graduated from ND last year, and I had no idea that his presence had such a deep impact on my college experience. Whenever I felt vaguely homesick, I could just pop over to Dillon Hall for a hug and a quick snack. Now that he moved away for graduate school, it’s a lot easier for me to feel homesick, because now I miss him too. To my icon of a brother, thank you for being a great influence while I grew up, getting me interested in Notre Dame and involved with PEMCo, and for managing my fantasy football team. To my angel of a mom, thank you for always answering my calls, sending me memes on Instagram, sending me “Good morning bestie xoxo” texts without fail and for keeping a 1,470 day streak with me on snapchat. To my genius of a dad, thank you for being the smartest man that I know, sending videos of animals in our family group chat and helping me apply for an Apple credit card even though I was denied. To my dear Nana and Pap, I want to thank you for always showing me what it is like to love someone and to be a Mosier — look at birds, watch for deer, be 15 minutes early, and always show up with a cookie tray. To the Snyders, Egglestons, and Lorings, thank you for letting me crash every holiday, hosting the best barn parties, and throwing the best family vacations.
To everyone else in my crazy and loving family, thank you for the constant dedication to sending birthday cards, baking thousands of cookies for every family wedding, and always reminding me that no matter where I am, I can always come home.
You can contact Christina at csayut@nd.edu.
This views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
