From June 2021 to August 2022, I lived in a hotel. A tornado hit my house, and I was homeless. My mom had to pack some essentials and leave the rest in our mold-ridden house.

In one night, I lost a lot: a home, security and privacy. It was one room for the whole family, with four people, including myself and a baby brother on the way.

The lack of privacy began to strain my relationship with my mom. I wanted time alone, and when I got frustrated with being around the family, she brought me back to reality with, “This is our situation. We can’t change it right now.”

She was right, but I was irritated, nonetheless. It became a problem that I would take long showers. And while it must’ve been annoying to wait for me to come out of the only bathroom, it was the only place I could be alone.

However, my mom wouldn’t let me wallow in my self-pity. She forced me to take walks with her, talk with friends and even play soccer again. She took me out on the town to get us out of the dingy place we were staying.

One night, we were driving back to the hotel, and I commented, “I can’t wait to get home. ” She said, “Me too.” We looked at each other and realized we’d begun calling the place we hated the most home.

That moment was what started to bring us together. It was a simple moment, but I began to understand that I wasn’t the only one struggling with our living situation, my mom was struggling too. It was the worst experience of my life, and I dealt with insecurity, isolation and pessimism; despite all that, our time at the hotel changed our relationship for the better.

I have a much more communicative and understanding relationship with my mom now. I feel comfortable coming home, my actual home–not the hotel, and chatting about gossip, drama or just how my day was. And I listen to her as well when she talks about stories, worries or just how her day was.

It’s what I look forward to every day. Our days were mostly miserable and hopeless, but our shared experience is what brought us closer. And while we still argue, we always have our awful experiences reminding us that we can get through anything together.