"Sometimes," Kate says. "I mean, yeah, she's my mom, of course I miss her, but a lot of the time I used to hide behind all her bullshit. Like, there was always a reason not to do something, because my mom was crazy. Best reason ever, right? I'm pretty sure you could get out of being enlisted in war with that sort of excuse."

And not having that excuse hanging over her means she can't use it anymore.

"I've actually done stuff since I left home," she explains. "A lot of stuff. Stuff I never would have done back in Kansas because I spent all my time acting like my mom being crazy meant that I didn't have to do anything or become anything. Being away from her shit has been a good thing."