Um, so, unflattering moment in _refugee_'s history time, once I got into a physical altercation with my mother. It wasn't a "serious" physical altercation as in "neither party was doing serious damage to the other and there was a lot of hair pulling" although (I actually just talked to my sister about this yesterday) I did throw a blow. We were at very close contact however, and I'm sure it was an awkward blow.

My siblings pulled us (me) off of each other (her). My dad was in New York or Japan. My little sister called him and he spoke to both of us on the phone and he told me he thought the best thing possible would be for me to leave the house for a while. It wasn't like, "I'm going to kick you out," but "You and your mom should be apart." I totally agreed. I went for a walk in the dark in my neighborhood until I could text friends to pick me up. Might not have come home for a week, certainly didn't come home til Dad was back.

Rough time of my life. I was 19/20, probably home from school on summer break. I remember cultivating friends on campus so that I could stay at their places instead of going home. But I'm not sure. It could have also been the summer I was home after the end of college, before I got a job. I'm not sure.

Why did we come to blows? Well, besides the drugs I was abusing at the time (which were a very significant factor), my mother had a possession of mine in her hand or in her possession and was refusing to give it to me. I remember being totally enraged, because whatever she had was absolutely, unequivocably mine, and I remember a moment where I decided I "wasn't doing this any longer" and/or "wasn't letting her just get away with whatever she wanted" - that what she had was mine and I was getting it from her no matter what, that I wasn't giving up that fight.

So - that.

My brother voluntarily "ran away" and stayed at a friend's apartment for nearly two months in his late teens/early twenties, from what I remember. That was a time when we had no idea what he was doing, where he was, etc. No commuication whatsoever - but it was his choice, it wasn't at the parents' behest.

Edit: "How is my relationship with my mother now?" Well, I have accepted her for who she is. We get along well enough. My sister commented yesterday that she has a long and established tendency to "be a bitch" to me, approximately "30%" of the time. Essentially, if I do the right things, we get along now. Also, I bet kb has a juicy story or two for this thread. kleinbl00