The Frozen Tears of Montreal

But no.

Maybe it's the lack of sun or vitamin D; or maybe it's the grey slate sky; or the fact that we've had to crash at my parent's place the last 3 weeks while we get ourselves together again. But I'm having a tough time coping.

My mom and dad require a lot of attention and when they don't get it they get agitated. My dad doesn't have working kidneys and is on dialysis 3 times a week. I gave him one of my kidneys 10 years ago which eventually got overwhelmed and failed. My mom had a heart attack and stroke a year ago.

Their diet mostly consists of canola oil fried eggs and bacon on bread with cheese. Myself I'm a health conscious vegan and it pains me that they don't eat healthier.

Another problem is that they abhor the fragrances of the dishes I like. They hate the smell of garlic for instance. So my girlfriend and I bought a little butane stove and propane barbecue so we can cook outside and respect their rules.

Unfortunately my mom got offended and flipped out on us and asked us why to we can't eat like "normal human beings!"

It was too much for me. So we packed up our stuff, including the food we hadn't had a chance to eat or finish making and hit the streets, vowing to never return.

We walked the streets for over an hour in sorrow, hoisting our luggage with us in the cold freezing rain.

We checked out a few hotels but they were too expensive. So we took a metro downtown where they would be much cheaper and got a room for two nights, which cost us almost all the money we had.

When you stare out the window of a cheap hotel at night and behold the dreary washed out mean streets of the cold city, you think about the world being cruel and apathetic. The room was fine but we were shaken to the core and had a hard time sleeping.

We didn't know what to do and indeed, where to go. The shelter our hotel room provided would of course expire soon and it was a weird feeling, like being on a sinking ship with nowhere to swim to.

We had wireless internet and I messaged my sister who talked to my parents and told me they felt really bad and wanted us to come back. We decided the best thing to do was to restore harmony as best we could. The next morning I phoned my folks using the hotel room phone and all was forgiven.

My girlfriend and I spent the whole of the day luxuriating in the comforting seclusion of our hotel room. I bought some razors and shaved my beard off.

Again we had a tough time sleeping. There was this very loud-mouthed french Canadian prostitute coming in and out of the front street door, it didn't help with the gloomy feeling at all.

The next day we walked with our luggage for an hour to the part of town my dad was having dialysis. It wasn't so cold at first but eventually it got really miserable. The colorlessness of the city and the ashen overcast sky is incredibly bleak and dismal after having been in Acapulco so recently.

My dad drove us west in the car and a radio station played a Spanish acoustic guitar rendition of Pachelbel's Canon and I had to keep myself from weeping.

When we got home my mom had lunch ready. It was saturated with oil but we didn't say anything. It tasted pretty good.

It's night again now finally. My folks are in a decent mood and are watching some funny animal videos on TV. Things are ok for now. Take care Steemates :)