Dahlia's whole life is flipped upside down when her eccentric aunt enrolls her in a prestigious university in England. She is forced to make friends with a rather eclectic group of people and adapt to her new lifestyle all while trying to find the a...
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As someone who has dealt with a lot of change in their life, I've learned to catalogue changes that have happened to me by sorting them into three categories. The first is external change- the type that affects your surroundings and anything physical. The second is both external and internal, and the third is purely internal- all thoughts and feelings.
An example of the first type would be me moving to England for university. There were plenty of other smaller changes that accompanied the move, but the main change was in my environment- being in a different country at a different school.
The biggest change in my life occurred when I was sixteen, and it counts as both internal and external- the second type.
Growing up in a separated family, you learn to expect the unexpected. I remember always being hyperaware of the fact that any time my entire family would be gathered into a living room- whether it be at my mother's house or father's apartment- there would be some kind of life-altering news shared. The inaugural news segment that opened the long series of reports was the announcement of the divorce.
I remembered things my brothers didn't- I remember what it was like before, I remember how life was before all of the changes. I remember what life was like before my father moved out, but more importantly, I wish I didn't remember so much. I was young, and I didn't even know what a divorce was, but I was attentive and picked up on context clues. I knew that everything would change.
My father was a lousy excuse for a parent- he had constant temper tantrums, anger issues, and the need to physically take out his frustrations on other people- in ways I thought were entirely normal, but probably were quite harsh. And, he was always right, even if he wasn't. Long story short, I resented him. But, I saw him less after the divorce, so that was a relief.
The divorce was announced during a family meeting- I could still picture the exact way the room was set up, despite being five, and despite the renovations done to my childhood home in the coming years. Every change came with a little family meeting, and every change felt like a slap in the face- my father's new girlfriend, my mother's new boyfriend, my father's engagement, my mother's engagement, my father moving into a house instead of his small, cramped apartment, and my stepmother getting pregnant.
For years, I felt like I was standing in cold, salty, ocean water continuously getting pelted by waves- like when I got knocked down and finally picked myself back up, another wave would crash over me and pull me back to a close brush with drowning. It was a weird thing to get used to, but after a while, the family meetings ceased, and the changes were minimal.
I fell into a steady rhythm with the start of high school. I was doing well in my classes and I had a great group of friends. Everything going smoothly, and during my sophomore year, I was relishing in the freedom that came with finally being able to drive. It was exhilarating- the ability to venture out on my own and get away from the melancholy life that was constantly shifting around without my control.
