I’ll admit when I was younger I was spoiled. Not in the bratty, get everything I want kind of way though. My dad spoiled me with love from the beginning. I’m the youngest of three sisters in my family by a pretty big gap. My middle sister is 7 years older than me. Although being so far from both my sisters in age definitely had it’s downside, my favorite part was how I was always daddy’s little girl. He took me everywhere with him. We had a tradition of going to Sam’s Club every Sunday because we figured out that that’s when their best free samples of food were put out. One of my most core memories is when I was around 7 years old he took me to a pizza place that had arcade games and ice cream. I remember feeling so special and that it was like a little father daughter date. My dad supported my sisters and I in all that we did, and one of his favorite things was coming to our gymnastics competitions. He made sure to never miss a meet if possible, and there were many competitions where my mom couldn’t go so he’d step up and make sure to be there. He had a kind and gentle heart, and I always told him it I liked it when he was there because I knew no matter how I competed he wouldn’t be upset with me. His little tradition was making my sisters and I “care packages.” They were little baggies filled with snacks and candy. It was those little things that looking back I realize how lucky I was. Unfortunately, my dad was diagnosed with brain cancer right after my sixteenth birthday. He fought a long and hard battle but he passed away in our home in the summer of 2020. Losing him was and still is the hardest thing I have ever gone through. I stopped going to gymnastics for about a month because it just seemed too hard. When I finally returned I felt like I had no motivation. It took all I had to push myself to be ready for the following competition season. I’ll admit that next competition season wasn’t necessarily good. I had a lot of mountains I had to climb including severely dislocating my elbow in the middle of the season. It always made me sad being at competitions. I would look into the crowd half expecting to see him there. I recovered quick enough to be able to compete one event by regionals. I was so nervous because I knew I didn’t want to walk away wishing I’d done better. Right before I was about to compete I looked out into the crowd and there was man wearing a Northern Illinois University sweatshirt. It specifically was one of the exact same sweatshirts my dad had. This man had the same hair color and build as my dad and although I knew it was somebody else’s dad I think my dad was letting me know he was present through that man. I’ll never forget that feeling almost as if I was looking at my dad right before I competed. I ended up placing 4th on that event out of all the girls in the region. I didn’t go on to do gymnastics at the collegiate level, but I am currently training to tryout for the cheer team at my college. I can’t wait to see where this new sport takes me and I know my dad will be there every step of the way.

My favorite hobby is anything and everything to do with art. My mother painted a lot when she was young and my middle sister currently sells her art to people all across Indianapolis. Naturally, I grew up surrounded by painting and drawing. When COVID first appeared and the world went into lockdown, art was my saving grace. I painted day in and day out. I think art was really a way for me to express myself and use all the extra time in my day during COVID. It also helped me express myself throughout my dad's battle with cancer. I love painting portraits of people, but mostly I love painting and drawing animals. Interestingly enough, I want to be a veterinarian. I don't think it is a coincidence that I love art involving animals and I would like to work with them when I am older. However, the phrase "starving artist" is a completely true statement. It is hard for me, as a college student, to be able to fund my hobby. Art supplies are expensive especially if you want quality products.

It is difficult to reflect on losing a parent even if it is to understand what the experience may have taught you. My dad was diagnosed with brain cancer when I was just sixteen years old. His two year fight taught me a lot of lessons, but his death taught me the most important ones. It is unreasonable to think that losing a parent strictly teaches someone positive lessons or ones that are easy to cope with. When my dad passed away, I learned that life is hard and unfair. As a child, I held a certain type of innocence. I assumed that I was invincible, my family was invincible, and nothing bad would ever happen to us. On the day I lost my dad, that innocence was lost all at once. I learned that a part of life is hardships. It became all that much easier to empathize with others. I realized that everybody at some point in their life will have to face mountains, and I am no exception to that. I also learned how important the people that you surround yourself are when you fall under hard times. My dad passed away two and a half weeks before my eldest sister's wedding. Not only were we trying to plan the funeral, the reception venue for my sisters wedding called us and told us that they couldn't host anymore. This meant we had two weeks to plan a whole reception in our backyard. During this short period of time so many people in my family's life stepped up to support us. My family from Rhode Island flew in to help plan the wedding, friends were providing pre-made dinners every night for us, and a go-fund-me was even set up to help support us financially. I think if we hadn't been surrounded by so much support during this time, my family would have sunk. Finally, I learned that, even when it feels like the world is ending, everything will be okay. That has become a staple belief in my life. Whenever I am going through hard times I try to remember that even the worst feelings are temporary and subside eventually. To me this doesn't mean that I will ever be okay without my dad. I am not saying that my life will ever be perfect again, but I have learned that eventually I will be okay.