May 2006
The last month of school was one of my better months. I still wanted to move to Canada and it was finally happening. I had a flight booked for August, and an apartment ready to move into once I got there. I was really looking forward to finally being able to be out on my own. And this time, Mum couldn’t stop me. She didn’t know about it yet, but I planned to tell her a couple days beforehand. Dad knew because I knew I could trust him with something like that. He was with me on my decision on waiting to tell Mum. Both him and Daisy said she would be there to back me up in case Mum flipped out. Dad thought she wouldn’t blow up like usual. Why? Apparently, she started going to therapy for her anger issues. And I guess it was really working.
Graduating was a huge breath of relief for me. Daisy and I had a huge celebration for it, and Mum and Dad came to the graduation. Finally I was out of school. I just had to get a job which my parents were on my back about. They were constantly asking if I applied for a job anywhere and then would get a bit upset when I said I didn’t. Dad was less upset than Mum because he knew these things took time, but Mum wasn’t one for patience. Unfortunately, I had to wait until I was in Canada to start applying. If I applied for one in Belgium, by the time I would be accepted, I’d be gone. I wasn’t taking someone else’s position.
Since it would be our last summer together, Daisy and I wanted to make the most of it. I was just happy to be around Daisy, but she had other plans.
“Oi Kevin.” Daisy called for me from her room. I was in the living room on the couch. We never bothered getting a two bedroom apartment since I would be moving out so soon, so the couch was mine. “Mind coming here for a minute?”
“Yea, one second.” I got up and went to go see her. She was sitting at her desk with a pen and paper and a big smile on her face.
“So!” She smiled. “Since it’s our last summer together, I say we make the most of it!”
“You got something planned don’t you?” I said with a small laugh.
“Not yet.” Daisy replied. “But I will soon. I was thinking we should make a list of things we want to do for the summer.”
“Alright, uh, you got any ideas?”
“I already got hiking, swimming and going to the beach on the list.”
“Hiking??” I raised a brow. “I thought you didn’t like hiking.”
“I don’t.” Daisy laughed. “But you do, don’t you? I mean, if you don’t I totally don’t mind scratching it off the list-”
“Awfully quick to get rid of that idea.” I laughed. “Nah, I like hiking.”
“Well I guess it’s staying.” She pretended to be upset before giggling. “Any other ideas?”
We came up with many other activities to do throughout the summer. Stuff like going out to new and popular restaurants, getting a makeover (Daisy’s idea), going to the movies, going to theme parks and so on. The plan was to complete as many of them as we could. So we would be pretty busy to say the least.
June 2006
Since hiking was Daisy’s least favorite option on the list, we decided to get it out of the way first. Especially since we didn’t want to go in the warmer months. July was the hottest month, and hiking in heat wasn’t fun. So while the temperature was still quite mild in early June, we found a nearby place to go hiking. Daisy told Mum and Dad about our little plan, and of course they wanted to join in on some activities. Daisy made it clear that if Mum was too hard on me at any point, she wouldn’t be allowed to join any other activities. It was supposed to be a good time, not a stressful one. Mum didn’t get the big deal as to why we were trying to make the most of the summer, but Dad did, and supported our side.
Hiking was something Dad and I liked to do, Daisy didn’t mind, and Mum absolutely hated with a burning passion. Daisy liked to make a big deal about how much she hated it, but she was just joking. She liked being out in nature. But Mum was famous for her non stop complaining the whole time we were out hiking. We had done it a couple times in the past, and the worst part was her whining. She hated - and I mean hated - any sort of exercise.
Luckily for us, we would have the luxury of listening to her complaining once again. Dad wanted to go hiking with us and was determined to bring her along. I think he was trying to get her to tag along so we could all spend time as a family. Especially since he knew I wouldn’t be staying too much longer. I would’ve been happier leaving her behind, but Dad was determined not to let that happen.
We ended up meeting up at the location we were hiking at. Mum thought carpooling would be the best option, but everyone quickly disagreed. Daisy knew I would be too uncomfortable doing that, especially if she was in a mood. So we met up in groups instead.
“Ready to listen to Mum’s complaining?” Daisy joked as we got out of the car.
“Not in the slightest.” I groaned. I looked over at our parents car across from us and heard the familiar whining about the backpack being too heavy.
“Looks like she’s already complaining.” Daisy giggled. “Guess that’s one thing her and Jim have in common.”
“Yea.” Just thinking of him made me shaky. He really scared me.
“Oh, sorry.” Daisy frowned. “Shouldn’t bring him up. Forgot.”
“It’s ok.” I smiled a bit.
“You guys ready to go?” Dad asked as he approached us. “Your mother is already complaining about wanting to go home.”
“Could hear her from here.” Daisy giggled. “I’m all ready. How about you Kevin?”
“I’m good to go.” I said.
“Mum, you good to go?” Daisy called out to Mum.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Mum grumbled.
It took Mum a whole 0.5 of a second to start loudly complaining about literally anything. I was quick to tune out her complaining and just keep walking. Dad kept trying to get her to shut up in a gentle way, but no luck. So we just kept going.
“Huh, it’s getting a bit cloudy isn’t it?” Daisy pointed out. I looked up to see dark grey clouds starting to cover up the blue sky overtop of us.
“Looks like it could rain.” Dad said. “Possibly even storm.”
“I swear to god, if it rains I’m going to murder someone.” Mum growled.
“I think we’ll be fine.” Daisy smiled.
Oh but was she wrong.
Within minutes, the storm clouds filled the sky and it started raining. At first it was just a gentle rain, but then it quickly evolved into a downpour. It was raining so hard we could barely even see. We were slipping in the mud, and were getting soaked. We ended up finding a small ledge in the rocky areas we were able to hide under.
“I can’t believe this!” Mum was pissed. “Out of all the days, you chose the rainiest freaking day?!”
“I didn’t know.” Daisy shrugged. “It was supposed to be sunny.”
“Well, think of it as an experience.” Dad smiled. “It’s a good story to tell!”
“Exactly!” Daisy agreed.
“Nobody wants to hear a story about getting stuck in a rainstorm.” Mum grumbled.
“I say we make the most of it.” Dad said. “There’s a lake up ahead isn’t there?”
“Yea.” Daisy replied.
“Why don’t we go for a swim?” Dad suggested. “We’re already soaked, so why not go swimming??”
“I’m down!” Daisy said. “Kevin?”
“I’m in.”
“Emilia?” Dad looked at Mum.
“There’s no way. I’m staying here.”
“Suit yourself.”
We all left and went over to the nearby lake. It was still downpouring so hard it was tough to see. We left our stuff under the ledge to keep it as dry as possible. Dad leaped into the water and the rest of us followed.
“The water ain’t too bad!” Dad said.
“It’s actually warm.” I said. “Mum’s missing out.”
“Oh she’ll come out eventually.” Dad laughed.
Dad was right. After only a couple minutes, Mum came out and joined us. Of course she complained about the water being too cold and so on, but at least we were all having a somewhat ok time. We ended up staying in the water until the storm calmed down. It was only a small storm and it was quick to pass over us, leaving us the bright blue skies that were there before. Soaking wet, we grabbed our stuff and finished the hike.
August 2006
Time flew by as usual and before I knew it, it was the week before I had my flight to Canada. Daisy and I planned on spending that last week with Mum and Dad at home. I wanted to be with my family one last time. Even if it didn’t go well. Daisy was a bit uneasy about spending the whole week there, but she agreed anyway. She promised she wouldn’t let Mum hurt me in the slightest.
Mum and Dad were happy to see Daisy and I (well, not so much me) staying for the week. Mum still didn’t know why and thought it was just for fun. Therapy seemed to be helping Mum so it was nice to see her with a better attitude when she was around me. She still yelled at me at times throughout the week, but Daisy was quick to get her away from me and talk her out of doing anything. Dad had talked to Daisy about how she was supposed to handle Mum’s outbursts. She had to be more calm and not yell at Mum. So Daisy started doing this thing where she gets in between Mum and I and pulls her away so she can calm her down. It seemed to be working for the most part. Sometimes Mum was past the point of being able to calm down, at which Daisy would get me out of there instead. There had been a couple times we had to go for a walk outside so Mum could calm down.
Finally, the day before my flight came and I knew I had to tell Mum about my big move. As much as I didn’t want to say anything, I knew I had to. She was still my mother and needed to know where I was. I was terrified I would have a repeat of history, even though I knew that wouldn’t happen. I was just going to have to see how things went.
During dinner, Daisy and I decided to bring it up. Daisy knew I was too chicken to just say it, so she eased into the topic so I could bring it up. She talked about my plans on moving out of Daisy’s now that I had graduated so I could tell them what I was doing.
“Yea, Kevin’s planning on moving out.” Daisy went on. “Now that he graduated, he wants to be out on his own.”
“Yea?” Mum looked over at me. “Have you looked in any apartments? About time you stopped mooching off Daisy.”
“He’s not mooching off me.” Daisy shot her a glare.
I answered Mum’s question with a nervous nod. “I found one actually that I’m moving into soon.”
“Oh that’s good! Where?”
“Uh, Toronto.” I mumbled. Mum froze and Dad looked her way.
“Toronto. As in Canada?” Mum asked suspiciously.
“That would be it.” I said nervously. Mum started looking upset so Daisy reached and comforted her a bit. Out of everyone, Mum would be the one to take this the worst. Especially if she wanted to fix our relationship. She couldn’t really do that if I was in Canada. And I didn’t really plan on coming back except to visit maybe once a year.
“When?” Mum asked.
“Um… Tomorrow actually.”
“Tomorrow?!”
“He’s got a flight booked for tomorrow morning.” Daisy explained. “This is why we spent the week here. We wanted to spend time as a family before he left.”
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner??” Mum raised her voice a bit. She was clearly upset.
“Careful Emilia.” Dad looked over at her. “Deep breathes.”
Mum looked his way. “You don’t look surprised by this at all. Why’s that.”
“I knew.” Dad admitted. “It was a group decision to wait before telling you.”
“What?!! You don’t think this is something I would’ve liked to know sooner?!”
“Remember what happened last time he tried to make the move?” Dad said. “It was better you didn’t know so we could enjoy some family time before he left. We knew if we told you, it would ruin your mood.”
“Exactly.” Daisy agreed.
Mum had to take a breather before finally being able to talk more about everything. She wasn’t happy about it, but knew she couldn’t stop me. Instead of getting upset and holding me back, she kept as calm as she could and accepted it.
After dinner, Daisy and I had to leave. I had some last minute stuff I had to pack, and I wanted a good night sleep. Leaving was hard. Mum actually started crying when we said goodbye. That’s when I started tearing up a bit too because I’m a big softie and didn’t know what else to do.
“Take care of yourself.” Mum said before we left. “And make sure to visit, ok?”
“I will.” I said. “I’ll try to visit once a year at least. Flights are expensive.”
“We can always pay for one if you really want to come.” Dad offered.
“Thanks.” I smiled.
“Well, we better let you go, then.” Mum sniffled. We said our last goodbyes before heading back to Daisy’s.
The next morning was even more emotional. I knew leaving Daisy would be the hardest part of everything. She was my best friend, and closest family member I had. It was extremely hard saying goodbye to her, and leaving her to get on my flight. We both cried quite a lot. Daisy had me promise to call every night so we could tell each other about our days, and to at least try calling home once or twice a week. After all our hugging and tears, I got on the plane, and I was finally off to Canada.
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