Let me start off by saying that I love my dad. He and I have always been very close, but especially so after the divorce of my parents four years ago. He is there for me to talk to whenever, and about whatever.

I can tell him about my friends, school, boyfriends. And no matter what he will listen and help me work through my problems.

As a kid we would go on “Papa Adventures”. In fact, we still do. During a Papa adventure, my two little brothers and I are rounded up and told to get into my dad’s dark blue Toyota Tacoma stick shift (the car I would very much like to inherit someday), and buckle our seat belts.

We never have any idea where we or going or what we are doing. But believe me, we sure do try to get it out of him.

Sometimes we drive for ten minutes, other times for four hours. But somehow we’d always find a way to play our song, “Live Like You were Dying“, by Tim Mcgraw. Sometimes, if we were lucky, we would be able to take turns sitting on his lap and steering while on an empty dirt road.

We used to roll around in the backseat laughing our heads off as one of us sat on my dad’s lap and purposely steer the truck off the road, causing my dad to freak out, and then laugh along with us once we were back on track.

My favorite Papa adventure was a long drive up a very rocky road, which we all of course found very fun, especially while unbuckled and playing jello. After hours of driving, and about a mile of hiking, we would end up at this beautiful lake nestled in the middle of a crater.

We would stay there for pretty much the whole day and fish. I once caught fourteen, although my dad will argue that it was only thirteen. We never take the fish home to eat, instead we immediately release them back to their home. Our joy comes from the sport of it, and we don’t find it necessary to eat what we catch.

Besides, the only person who actually likes fish in my family is my mom.

Another one of my favorite Papa adventures is one we do often. We drive up Aspen Mountain and have lunch at the Sundeck, a restaurant at the top of the mountain. After lunch we walk around for a bit, and make good use of the ultimate frisbee and ropes courses.

This summer we took inner tubes and kayaks down a river by our house, and took my little brother to camp on the wild horse preserve.

In my mind my dad is this creative guy, who always knows right from wrong, and when not reminding me of previous mistakes knows exactly the right thing to say.

He knows what I’m talking about!

I love my dad so much, and being here at school makes me miss him very much. He’s one of my best friends.