In Chapters 25–28 of A Complicated Kindness, Nomi remembers a time in her childhood when the family went picnicking on an island and their boat floated away. Why is this memory important to Nomi?

Nomi recalls the time her family was stranded on an island on Falcon Lake as a happy time. The episode was a happy memory even though Tash snapped her fishing rod backwards and caught Nomi with a hook (Nomi still has a scar as evidence). Her mother wrapped Nomi's bleeding head in a towel, and the family then realized that their boat had slipped away. Nomi thinks of this day: "I was happy to be stranded on an island with my family and a towel around my head" (page 218).
Part of the reason Nomi regards this time as happy and important to her is that her only worry at the time was the missing boat, while she usually had a great deal of worries. In addition, being stranded on the island brought her family together. Her parents laughed together and went swimming, and her mother kissed her father. Tash and Nomi played on the island and picked up rocks while talking about how they would survive without being rescued. Their isolation from the rest of the world brought them together in a simple and happy way, and Nomi treasures this isolated and warm memory of her family enjoying being together.