GUELPH, ON – Though tax season can bring bad news to some, for the Dubois family it brought a touching reunion between a mother and son.
After months of silence between them, Julian Dubois reached out to his mother, Miriam. “It was just so nice to hear from him”, said Miriam. “He hadn’t called me since… well around this time last year, actually.” Though he initially attempted small talk, Julian quickly gave up and cut to the chase in asking Miriam if she could do his taxes for him. Shortly after she agreed to help, Julian arrived at his mother’s house with a T4, a single loose receipt for a Slim Jim he said was a ‘business expense’, and a duffel bag full of dirty laundry.
Julian, who calls himself a ‘Freelance Yoga DJ’, seems to have no basic understanding of the tax process. ”I think he just gets confused by the lingo”, said Miriam. “When I asked him what his SIN was, he responded, ‘I don’t think I need to tell you that, you’re not Pastor Gary’.” He also reportedly laughed every time he saw the word ‘gross’ in the tax forms as his mother worked away. “It’s not that bad, having to do the work for him”, Miriam added. “I do still get to claim him as a dependent, since my house is still his legal address.”
Though she has previously encouraged him to complete them on his own, this is not the first time Miriam has had to support Julian through tax season. “I almost got him to use Turbo Tax a few years back because he thought it was a video game”, said Miriam, “but then he said he ‘couldn’t unlock the boss battle’ and gave up. Of course, that was after he live-streamed himself ‘playing it’ on Twitch and got his identity stolen.”
Though some may think he’s taking advantage of his mother’s kindness, Julian insists that he reached out primarily to reconnect with her. “We don’t get to spend much time together, and just because she’s hunched over a stack of papers while I’m watching Seinfeld reruns doesn’t make this visit any less special. Plus, her birthday is in a few days, and what’s a better gift than a visit from her son? Real talk, though, my mom’s the best. I hope I’m just like her when I grow up”, said the 37-year-old.
Miriam’s patience did start to wane during the visit when she realized that this was not the only area her son had failed to mature in. “He kept interrupting me to ask if I could go get him some pizza rolls, and then when he was going to bed, he made me read him his favourite bedtime story, which was just the full transcript of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.”
As their visit ended, Julian promised to call Miriam again just before the next election so she could help him register to vote.
