Member-only story
It Took A Trip To New Brunswick To Truly Get To Know My Aunt
Atlantic Canada was the perfect backdrop to open up
Growing up, my Aunt was somewhat of a mystery.
I saw her at special occasions — Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, my birthday — but not much beyond that.
We lived in Toronto, she lived in Oakville, which was about a 30 minute drive. Factoring in 9–5 jobs, school, homework, extracurriculars, and the time crunch that comes with a young family trying to balance it all, that 30 minutes was practically days.
And so she was the family member that I knew existed, I socialized with when she came to visit, but beyond that, I knew very little about.
All that changed in my final year of high school when she offered to take me to New Brunswick for a long weekend to celebrate my graduation.
It was going to be just me and her for four days. I jumped at the chance to go.
It was my first time on a plane. The first time leaving Ontario. And although I didn’t know it then, the first time I truly got to know my Aunt.
“Did your parents ever tell you about the time I danced on top of a bar?”
“What? No!” I respond. We are sitting in the tiny plane, just about to take off. This…
