Facing 11 | Tadgh Lynch <3 Leah daly

PANINI EATING SEAGULLS

LEAH

If there was one thing I was sure about, it would be that my dad could not drive. He had a licence and a car but the chances you make it out alive are zero to none. Thank God that we were in an Uber and he wasn't driving.

Moving to Cork wasn't on my bucket list for this summer, but things change i guess. But maybe it's for the better, who knows? To be fair I didn't even have a bucket list and I was planning to just munch on penguin bars the whole summer. In my defence they are absolutely scrumptious,so…yeah.

My Mum had always wanted to stay in London, she'd always tell me about how she felt most like herself here. Every night up till I was 11 she'd tell me different stories about "adventures" she'd gone on in London. They weren't actually adventures, more like a seagull stole my panini, which happened a lot more than it should have. Speaking from experience, I'd lost a panini to a seagull once. Traumatic experience, do not recommend.
My mum had always had a thing for animals though, so she'd never fight for her panini back, she'd always let the seagulls take them. But I doubt they must've been good for their health but it's the thought that counts.

At the end of all her "adventures" she'd always tell me one thing. "You can wipe away someone's tears, but not their pain."
I'd never really understood what she meant by that. I'd always think she was silly for ending her stories with such a sad topic, then laugh at it before going to bed. I never understood the full meaning behind it till last year.

My mum died last year.

No one expected it or saw it coming. It came out of nowhere. She left a letter for me. My dad found it when we were packing last month, but I still haven't opened it. I don't plan on opening it anytime soon, I might just take it to my grave with me. For funsies.

The only place I'd ever called home had disappeared behind us. It was just me and my dad in the car with our suitcases, And the Uber driver obvs. We didn't live too far away from the airport but the drive felt like forever. I hadn't realised just how big of a change moving to a different country would be, a clean slate. I'd have to make new friends, which I was not looking forward to in the slightest, I was contemplating just sitting by myself at my new school.

Before I knew it, my dad and I had already boarded the aeroplane. We were sitting in business class which I wasn't a huge fan of but I had no energy to complain. Business class was too flashy and as much as I love my privacy, sitting in economy just feels different. It's more comforting in a weird way, it feels normal.
My life wasn't normal in the slightest and I knew that it wasn't getting any more normal than it was right now, if anything it would get worse. I'd always been recognised as Anne's daughter. But after my mum died people started to recognise me more than before, I'd even made the headlines for "The Sun'' once. Unlike my mother I wasn't a fan of having my face on display, She absolutely adored acting and anything to do with theatre. Sadly, I had inherited my dads genes not my mums so I was absolutely shit at acting. But it's okay because I had dimples.

Not long after sitting down the aeroplane took off. And when I said I was too tired to complain I fully meant that. I was absolutely battered so it didn't take long for me to fall asleep. But in my defence I attempted to stay awake, it just didn't happen to work out in my defence but can't do anything about that now.

"If the plane could ascend then you could ascend as well. But to be able to Ascend you have to Descend first." My mum always told me to think of that when I was on a plane, so I did. She'd tell me a lot of things, honestly I wasn't completely sure why. I'd always assume that she was a motivational speaker or a therapist in another life. I never asked and it's too late to ask now. Knowing my mum she would've had a reason, which was probably not a valid reason but we only live once.

A/N
~06/05/24