The Best Person and the Best Time of My Life
As a daughter with a dad, the word dad may mean many different things for different people. One might picture someone who is loving, selfless, and well respected. On the other hand, a picture of dishonest, impatient, and grumpy dad may come to mind. There is in infinite number of words to describe someone who is close to you, including the good and the bad. The qualities that a dad holds can impact their daughter more than they can imagine. I chose to write The best time of my life essay to share my experince and show how much I am grateful to my Dad!
My dad has taught me almost everything I know today. He taught me how to hunt, how to carefree, and most importantly how to be me. From as early as I can remember I grew up more of a tomboy instead of mamma’s little princess. The very last thing I wanted to be wearing was a dress. I would rather be out getting muddy and coming home with a dead frog in my hand to show my dad. Since I was too young to hunt yet, I was looking forward to shooting my first animal instead of watching the grownups having all the fun.
As I grew older, to now, I have watched an immense number of sunrises and sunsets with my dad. All the times waking gup at 4:00 am is always worth it in the end. My dad and I have always hunted out in the Black Hills where we stay at a cabin we have down in Custer, SD. Every time we started the morning, we stop at the same gas station and both get a coffee to go. Among the coffee, we would always grab a bag of chocolate covered donuts for a morning snack. As much as we hunted out there, my brother soon was old enough to come and hunt with us too. Soon it became a family thing. It became a hunting vacation over Thanksgiving break. So, every Thanksgiving, our family and part of my dad’s side of the family, would stay out at the cabin for a while to enjoy family time. Especially on Thanksgiving Day, after we were done hunting, coming home to a warm meal was the greatest feeling ever. With or without a deer, being with family and having that warm meal with the family was worth everything. I appreciate all the things my dad has taught me on how to hunt, but more importantly how to appreciate the time you get to spend with family. Plus getting to spend time with your family doing somethings you love is something I will never take for granted.
There is one place in this world right now where I have never taken for granted, and that is our cabin 30 minutes north of Pierre, SD. Long story short within the best day of my life essay, my dad let this be the cabin where “whatever happens at the cabin, stays at the cabin.” This let the past summer be the best time of my life in a long time. My brother and I always come out here with lots of friends live like there’s nothing stopping us. It is a lot of boozing, cruising on the water, and lots of late nights here. Of course, parents are out here, so there is always an early morning invite to go fishing with my parents out on the river. It is such a different environment out here compared to back home in Sioux Falls. Back home, my dad was constantly working, and I get to see him at night when he is home from work. Out here, especially in the summer, my dad gets a break and live his life a little more too. Here, my dad cooks for everyone and makes the absolute best breakfast, although that might be because we are all hungover. In short, I for one, appreciate having this escape from reality where it lets everyone out here have that sense of having no worries in life.
One idea I think I underappreciated is that my dad truly let me be me. What I mean by this is that he was there holding my hand when I was younger showing me some ways. Now, that I am older, he still is there to guide me, but he loosened the reigns to a point where I don’t feel controlled anymore. When I was younger, I was into four wheelers, hunting, and getting dirty. He showed my all the way to do all those things. Working hard in the summer days to one shot one kills. Now a days, my dad only really puts in his input when I ask for it or if I need help here and there. Not saying that a bad thing but a rather good thing to me. I want to figure life out on my own and start to be more independent in life. When I went off to college there was a huge difference between my mom and dad. I am more than thankful for all the stuff my mom does for me but, she was constantly up in my business and wonder the who, what, where, when, and whys to my life. On the other hand, my dad checked up on me here and there. The biggest idea that sets my dad away from everyone else in my family is that when I came out as being gay he didn’t shove that in my face. I mean I think that he just accepted it and that was that. He asks little to no questions about that subject matter, but he does ask if I’m okay or how I’m doing. He always saw me as his little girl and that nothing would change that in his life, and I appreciate that more than he will ever know.
I am more than thankful for the roads that my dad has shown me. Growing up being a little dirty and a little naughty is all I could have asked for. Learning to shoot and appreciate the smaller things in life are always going to be apart of me. I am who I am today because of my dad. I am always getting dirty with my hands on my jeep or doing yard work around the house. I really appreciate the part where some days I can dress like a hobo and be lazy for the day with no worries. I don’t have to be ashamed of who I am or what I look like because there is no reason to fear anymore. I get to feel and do all these things that were always a part of me. My dad helped me show these parts of me a little more. Thank you, dad, I got the chance to figure out who I am and be who I am because of you.
I do not remember the last time I have written a paper about someone. I mean I have written about superheroes and their ideologies but not about someone who is involved in my life. For this paper I honestly thought I would be writing about my mom because I am a momma’s girl at heart. I am more involved with my mom’s life rather than my dad’s, but I chose to write about my dad. I chose to write about him because like shown in lecture, using that spiderweb flowchart, was a lot easier to come up with things for my dad. Even while doing so I go emotional about all the good times we have had so far. Using that way of thought processes to come up how and what to write about made it a lot easier to write.
