Background

Things started out pretty cozy for Remington, born in early October 1972 in the city of Albany, Georgia to parents Martin, and Lisa Curran. The second born to the loving married couple, Rem had a doting older sister Claire. The bright blonde haired boy was a ray of sunshine in his families eyes, full of energy and curiosity for things around him that they could barely contain. His sister already 10 by the time he came around had left for college pretty early on leaving Rem to be the focus of his parents attention around the age of 8. He preformed well in elementary school, coasting in middle school however he wasn't impressing anyone with his just barely passing grades. Despite the slipping grades, Rem had them convinced things would turn around. Unfortunately for him, high school wouldn't be the turn around he was aiming for. One late summer night his world came to a devastating halt, opening the door to his pastor accompanied by a local police officer they sat him down informing him of his parents passing. It came out of nowhere, he knew they were old but this sort of thing didn't happen to people you know he thought to himself, how could it? His parents were good Christian people, they did everything right, made no enemies to speak. And yet in that moment his world was torn apart, his sister arriving days later to help him sort things out. But what was there to sort out at this point? Seeing no realistic options, he agreed to move to Fresno California with Claire, her becoming his legal guardian at the time. And in just a matter of weeks, his entire life was uprooted and flipped upside down as he settled in to his comfortable new room on the coast. California was much different from things back home, counselors suggesting he take the year off to focus on grief and adjusting to the changes. When he finally did return to school there was almost no effort, the little drive that was there before was certainly gone now as he struggled with his day to day. Acting out and being generally miserable for the first couple years. Though like most things, this didn't last as his older sister Claire never turned her back on him. The two had never been terribly close, the age gap had made that a little troublesome especially when she left for college. But the love was there, and to both of them now, they only had each other left. Graduating a little late, and just barely squeaking by with the help of others he got that diploma not particularly for himself, but for his big sis and his parents. Just barely reaching that bar to graduate took his entire focus for a while, taking a few months after graduation to decompress while he tried to plot what's next. 'Aim for something you like to do.' he would try and remind himself, but when he looked at his options, he struggled to find something worth committing too. Everything still looked to him pretty dull. The idea of signing up for a career path that designated the rest of his life sounded like far too much to worry about now. After he had a few months of a break, he got himself a job working in the kitchen of a local pizza joint just a short distance from his home. The growing pressure creeping up the back of his neck as his sister continued doing her best to help guide him in the direction of a prosperous future for himself despite the heavy lack of motivation within. In recent months, Claire shared exciting news with Rem. She had got a special bonus around new years at work that involved two tickets on that fancy new Silver Meridian rail cruise that was being advertised all the time. The trip would involve of course some business meetings when they arrived in New York, but aside from the scheduled meetings the two would have a lot of time to explore The Big Apple. Now a days Rem struggled when it came to disappointing his sister, although reluctant to agree Rem told Claire he would go on the trip with her. With a couple months to make arrangements, the two planned and packed for their trip. Claire doing almost all the planning Rem mostly worrying about his single suitcase while she made lists and systems to make sure everything went right. The closer the day came to approach the more a budding sense of excitement finally started to grow inside of Rem to try and enjoy this trip as he looked forward to the various attractions the two planned to see along the way.