Happy (Belated) Father's Day

When I reflect back on a time when I felt truly happy, a time when I had no stress, no worries, a true moment of no sadness, I think of a memory of me with my dad.

Not just any ol' time, but I specifically remember a day when I was just a little girl and we were outside playing catch with the football. We had decided to go in and as we walked in, my dad acted like he was going to tackle me. I remember laughing and falling over in the grass.

Sure, this may be just a simple, nonchalant memory, but it's one of my favorites because I was so happy to be right there in that moment with my dad.

I am a daddy's girl and anyone who talks to me or sees me with my dad knows that. From the sports discussions I can get into, to the straightforward approach I take with telling people what I think, it is no secret who I admired as a kid.

Whenever someone asks me about my dad, I tell them he is my best friend and that is the truth.

He understands me because we think just alike. We can spend a day together doing absolutely nothing and neither of us would complain nor probably think of anything else we would rather be doing.

We share the same sense of humor, mostly at the expense of Mom and Ashley. Dad and I like to make fun of everyone and everything and it tends to wear on some, but what can we say, we are the best tag team comedians I know.

My love for sports came from watching them with my dad. I cannot tell the story of how much I actually enjoyed watching these games with Dad and really paid attention to these games without telling of the time I played T-ball in first grade. During one game, I expertly slid into home plate underneath the catcher's outstretched hands. No one could believe at my young age that I would even know how to slide, but after watching countless Reds' games with Dad, I had the slide down with pro technique and all.

My dad had a hard life growing up and through all the struggles his family had to deal with, he still became the first in his family to graduate college. I always look up to my dad for this accomplishment and it pushed me to work hard in school to live up to what he made possible for me and my sister.

Dad worked a full-time job and a part-time job to support us and somehow he still managed to be such a presence in my childhood that I would not believe it if he told me himself that he was gone for over 12 hours a day.

I love my dad the most though because even if I've made mistakes or failed at reaching a goal he never made me feel like he was disappointed in me. He always let me know it was okay and we just have to learn from it and move on.

For me, Father's Day tends to be just another day with a simple "Happy Father's Day Dad." It doesn't mean I don't feel that the holiday isn't worth celebrating, but to me, it's hard to buy presents to express how much I care about someone. Instead, I leave Father's Day as a day for Dad to relax, hopefully shrug off the stress for the need to support us and enjoy a day in front of the TV by his girls: Ash, Mom and me.

Although Father's Day has passed, I thought I would still go ahead and write about my dad just to show how much I really appreciate my dad :)

The Unnoticed

As my summer has progressed, my main source of relaxation and fun comes from my night bike rides with my fellow bike rider Arielle. We seriously can just ride for hours around town each night (when it's not storming as was the usual for most of May) and we never get bored.

How can we ride around such a small town and not get tired of the same old scenery you may ask?

Well, the answer is simple. We make a new discovery every night about our little town that never fails to bring some sort of memorable experience for our ride.

If you ever travel down N. Race St., you will find an old carton with the bottom cut out tied to a telephone pole. This makeshift basketball hoop seems like the best idea ever to me since I always wanted a basketball hoop to be able to play at home as a kid. Whoever rigged that up there is a genius in my opinion and I could just imagine a neighborhood basketball game taking place on that street. Arielle and I always plan on taking a basketball with us, so we can enjoy the amazingness of the basketball hoop and one of these days I'll have to post the picture of this when it DOES happen.

We also noticed just how beautiful Market St. looks where the grass and tree section divide the lanes. With the leaf-filled branches crossing over the road, the street is an absolutely beautiful sight.

Riding around town we have also learned it is not unusual to see the same cop multiple times during our bike rides in various parts of the town. By the end of a bike ride, we have seen each other so many times that we have developed such a good friendship we wave and ride around the block to help them with a traffic stop. Okay, maybe I'm over exaggerating on this one, but we did wave to a cop, followed him to see him stop and help out a fellow officer who had a car pulled over. Then of course, we had to ride around the block to come back and check out what happened. At least we know Van Wert's law enforcement is out and about keeping us safe, unlike the dog warden...

We have noticed some not so flattering aspects of Van Wert, such as the number of stray cats. No matter what street we turn down, we see at least five cats running around in the yards beside us.

Although the cats may run away from us and appear as no threat, we also have to look out for loose dogs. Just the other night we passed a dog that looked like it might attack us, as the owners just sat and watched. Then, the same night a dog came from out of nowhere and chased us. Ok, so the dog actually slowly trotted behind us. But still, a loose dog worries me because it could easily bite me.

Sure, our bike rides may not equal the thrill of a motorcycle bike ride, but when we decide to follow random cars just to see if we can keep up, it gets pretty intense. Not everyone enjoys extreme biking like we do, but it has added a little bit of excitement to the dull life Van Wert tends to offer and I can say I am thoroughly enjoying my summer.

 

Changes and Lack Thereof

I honestly have no idea where time goes. Once again, a month has gone by since the last time I posted and I no longer have hopes for posting every week or every other week because clearly it has failed to happen.

I have spent my time busily working at my internship, which I have learned through my on-camera experiences of doing the daily sports report that: I do not open my mouth when I talk, apparently I am too lazy to open my mouth wide and make movements with it other than it just hanging open and somehow making sound come out; I speak in a monotone even when I'm not trying to be sarcastic and actually trying to make my voice sound energetic; I laugh a lot, regardless of it is funny; and my hair does not look good on camera, even though it looks good in person.

Deciding not to work as a lawyer was definitely the right choice for me, I love getting out in the community, meeting new people every day, hearing interesting stories, and of course, learning about exciting events that will spark controversy in the town and awaiting the feedback from the news stories released about them.

I also know I made the right decision for me in my career choice because I had to cover court news one day. A simple five minute sentencing for two men. The cold, heartless manner it was treated with disgusted me. Sure, they're criminals and deserve to be punished, but they're humans with family who will miss them and were heartbroken at the sentence. I never want to cover court again.

Besides my work life, my life has had little excitement. Van Wert never changes. Each day can easily become a routine with no one and nothing new if I don't work for a new addition in it. I recently became a member at the local YMCA, and by recent, I mean I started going there two days ago. Let me tell you, I am so much happier for it. I get to see new faces every day and talk to new people. It's great!

Of course, I have hung out with and talked to many old friends and classmates. It saddens me how much I have grown apart with some people, people who I would consider my better friends.

I have a handful of people who while away at school I talk to daily. Texting allows us to talk to each other just as if we were passing by each other in the hallways at school and stopping to tell the other about a funny story in our last class or gossiping at lunch. But, for the other friends who I don't text every day, we just don't have anything to talk about besides the typical small talk.

Maybe I expected to be able to hang out with old friends and pick up right where we left off, but it's impossible. I have run into the same problem that I run into at school, I always bring up a story about another friend which they don't get because they don't know about who I am talking.

College students really have it hard if they don't live where they go to school. It feels every time I feel like I finally have gotten caught up with someone and know most of the names of the people they're talking about I have to leave. And then, I feel it's harder for me because I missed an entire summer last year of being able to catch up and now I don't even know what my friends did last summer.

I know I'm nosy, but I don't think this is me being nosy, I think I just want to genuinely know what my friends are going through.

This is part of life and I know it, but I am ready for college to be over. I am ready to move to wherever I decide to write (or rather wherever I get a job) and stay. So, I guess I better live in a big city that way I don't get bored with the same old faces and places like I have in Van Wert.