Being hugged by mom again

I remember sitting in the car, driving 4 hours to Auckland. So many things going through my head: "Is this real?" "Am I actually going to see my mom?" "I can't even remember how it felt to hug her" "I need to make sure I won't cry" "That doesn't make any sense, I'll probably cry" and then the next moment I was dropped off in the city where it all begun. I walked through the streets, my heart pumping. And then I saw her, across the field, sitting in the middle of this crowd. I couldn't breath anymore, I just walked really fast and said: "mom?" and then she looked into my eyes. I think we both didn't really knew what to say, it felt weird and unrealistic... but we just hugged and nothing felt more real.

We took the bus to the guy we were renting our van from. It was a crappy thing, but it worked! Things started to get normal and I just enjoyed the fact that she was sitting next to me. We picked up the van and just started driving up to the bay of island. We just talked and talked and talked but that was the only thing I needed. It got dark and we parked in the middle of nowhere, but it was beautiful and I had my mom.

The whole week we spent together, we didn't visit any big touristic things. We just drove around, walked on the beach, made diner and explored little towns. We went for coffee and had good conversations that could last for hours. It felt so good to be able to tell her what was going on in my mind, and to have someone who would agree or disagree with my 'yet to make decisions'. And I realised how tired sleeping in a hostel made me, when I slept for 12 hours each day.

The first time shopping in the supermarkt together was pretty weird. I was still looking for the cheapest things while she was just asking me what I really wanted. I got spoiled with prawns, strawberries, chocolate spread and FRESH bread. I never felt more grateful. We just toured around, chilled out and enjoyed each others company. We had breakfast at the beach, coffee in town and time enough in the afternoon to do whatever. This one day we went to thermal hot pools. It was a spa created by mother earth alone. Just me and my mom, soaking in mud pools like a teabag in hot water. I felt relaxed.