I had just started high school, I was awkward, I was nervous and I was scared.
My best friends went to a different school and I felt as though I would have to completely start over. I knew a handful of people coming into the school but none of them were on the level that I was on with my best friends, it just felt weird.

Months went by and all of those feelings were gone. I made new friends, I was getting good marks and all of my teachers seemed to like me. It seemed as though the four years ahead of me were going to be less torturous than I had anticipated, but as the months went by something always felt as though it were missing.I always care more than others when it comes to a relationship. Whether it be a friend, boyfriend, anything, I am always the one who puts in the most effort.
One weekend I decided I was done chasing after people who didn’t want to make the time for me so I spent the weekend with my mom.I never really counted my parents as friends, I mean you go your whole life afraid of messing up in front of them and that is basically what friends do together, mess up. So, my moms proposition to run errands and have a “nice day together” wasn’t looking to appealing right then and there, but I decided to go anyways.Honestly, I think I underestimated my mom. She had the ability to turn a regular boring task into a situation where I would laugh so hard I cried.
“Let’s stop at the Chinese mall” said my mom.There was this new Chinese grocery store along Highway 7 that my mom always talked about. She always called it a mall which irritated me because it was clearly one store, but I decided to go with her this time. Not really much of a decision considering I was in the passenger seat but lets make it seem like I had a choice and I was being a good daughter.
As we walked inside, the smell hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean, it wasn’t bad or anything it was just…foreign. I really have always appreciated the Chinese culture for their ability to eat just about anything and I have respect for the fact that they create new ideas and waste nothing, but I never would have dreamed the funniest moment of my life would have been caused by their food.As we walked past the seafood area I hear a big yelp. Now, what possessed my mother to smell the lobsters as a method of picking the best one, I will never understand, but I am so glad she did. As I stand there laughing, and I mean on the floor, legs crossed, tears streaming down my face laughing, I watch my mother struggle to unclench the lobster’s claws from her nose. Helping her wasn’t even a thought in my mind nor was it anyone elses. Literally everyone just watched as she was screaming and laughing, and I was in no state to help her, I couldn’t even breathe.
She eventually got it off and we just stood there for about 10 minutes just laughing. Of course this was very embarrassing but really, what funny moment doesn’t contain embarrassment? We continued to shop, except now I had to push the cart so my mom could stod the bleeding, I couldn’t help but to laugh about that. As we approached the check out a new song came on the speakers. Usually in a grocery store, when they play lame 1980s songs you don’t generally think anything of it, but in this particular case my mother and myself could not help but be intrigued by the K-Pop they were blasting. I feel as though they make the music very loud in order to spare the cashiers the burden of having to speak with the customers, however, at the time, we came to the conclusion that loud volume equaled spontaneous dancing.
There we were, the mother and daughter dance duo, in the middle of Foody Mart, dancing to K-Pop. If there were ever a time where I felt judged it would have been there, but what made it all okay was that I was being judged with my mom.
That’s when it kind of hit me. Why do I spend my time and my energy chasing after my friends when I will always have my best friend there no matter what? I put so much time into figuring out why no one is ever there unconditionally, meanwhile I have my mom who is there even when I don’t want her to be. That is when I realized that my mom is my best friend. The thing that felt as though it were missing was the realization that I don’t need to chase after people, that my mom will always be there. She is the one who I don’t need to tell I am upset but who is able to read it from the way I walk down the stairs, she is the one who gives me advice on boys that will actually help me, not just shut me up, and she is the one who will be there for the rest of my life no matter what. Most parents aren’t willing to dance in a grocery store and most parents aren’t as embarrassing as mine, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.