Damien | Edgeware, Canterbury

“My dad passed away, and I didn’t find out till about a week after he passed away, and I couldn’t get up and see him, because he lived right up the other end of the North Island, and I didn’t have the finances to get up there.

So, I was a bit bummed out that I couldn’t go up. I talked to my eldest brother, because he lives out where my dad died. So, I was talking to him, and he was telling me all about the situation. He said, even though you couldn’t get up, it was alright, because he had already been cremated, and I said, oh yeah, that’s alright then. So, I didn’t feel bummed out that I didn’t go up there.

I just took it as it was. I was quite close to my dad, but I was actually, because he had cancer and lung problems. He was in a better place, instead of having to go through all the daily sufferings. My mum and my dad separated when I was younger, but when they separated, I left with my dad, and went up North, but then my mum came up and got me, and I was just starting school up there, and so I didn’t want to leave, because I wanted to stay with my dad, but I ended up having to come back with my mother.

I’m just on the unemployment benefit, and most of the time I spend my day in the library. I come down to the library during the day, so I can download games on my phone or watch the computer.”