I don't think any of my family actually believes I'm moving to Vancouver and not coming back. They don't understand that the sect of our family that is my mom, step-mom, younger brother and sister is downright toxic. And I'm probably not any better, but I'm doing my god damn best to break the cycle of dysfunction, and that means leaving my family, and the city I've grown up in, forever.

My mom doesn't understand that I'm holding off on my class 5 (Interim Drivers License in Alberta, Canada) because I know she won't pay for insurance or gas for the better part of a year because the owner of the bar that she has her karaoke in doesn't pay her for like, 6 months. They all think that I'm still going to "come home" for holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. But I'm not. And I will not subject my partner to the toxicity that is my family more than they already have over Discord.

And this is forgetting the fact that my mom owes me $5000+ CAD after I found out she stole it from my college fund in 2015. I am going no contact with all of my immediate family until I am paid back, which will be probably never.

My family has been far too reliant on me for the last 5 years, and I'm at my limit. I'm out. By April 2022, I will be living with my partner in Vancouver, surrounded by good friends and a beautiful city.


"Tell my mother[s], tell my father[s], that sometimes goodbye is a second chance."
-Second Chance, Shinedown, The Sound of Madness (2007)