Jessica is my best friend. She's held that position since sophomore year of Ohio State, and now she is my lovely girlfriend. She's there whenever I need her. She understands me better than anyone else. She knows exactly how I feel on the most complex and frustrating feelings. She's a godsend and I am undeserving of her love. I love her more than I could ever express in writing.

Let me whine for a moment...

Things are nuts. They really are. Really nothing that you plan comes to fruition like you thought it would, and so many things that you hadn’t accounted for spring up and (usually) rear their ugly head. Life is crazy. And hard. Maybe you’ll disagree with me, but even as a white American male, life is hard. It’s true that I don’t have many of the challenges that much of the world faces, even those in THIS country. But life is still difficult. For starters, once you get used to living a certain way, it is a straight up SLAP in the face when you can no longer live like that. That’s ridiculously hard. Harder than I would have thought. Cutting back is my least favorite phrase right now.
Another reason why life is hard is because as a white American male who was raised in a reasonably affluent household, there are expectations. Expectations to choose the right major (oops!), get good grades (nope!) graduate (yes, got that one right) go to grad school (how about trade school?) and graduate with a job in a field that is going to make you money. More money than your dad made, buying a bigger house that your parents did. Being a better man that your dad. I feel those pressures. And I have not, and many times feel like I cannot, reach those expectations. I don’t mean to sound like I am complaining.... but I am. I am complaining. My life is good for the most part. But to me, it’s hard. I don’t like it right now.
But it’s not all bad. My girlfriend is honestly about as good of a girlfriend as you could ask for. I’m pretty broke right now and she’s helped me out tremendously. She’s overwhelmingly supportive and that’s what I need right now. She truly is a God-send. She’s all I could have asked for and more. I love her to pieces. Not to mention, she’s an excellent photographer. She makes even ME look half-way decent, and that is a challenge.
But yeah, life update : suck status right now, for the most part.

Dad

This might sound a little bit conceited, but like anchorman, I'm just going to throw it out there. I'm pretty darn good at my job. Heck, I'm good with kids in general. I work with an autistic child, and most of what I do is trying to get him to interact with me. And I can get him to do that fairly well, because he likes me. And he likes me because I am entertaining. And none of this has to do with me.
Every reason I am fun, every way I know how to play, every shred of patience I have in my body (I'm pretty darn patient) comes from what I've learned from my dad. He's quite the gentle soul. I've only seen my dad pissed at me one time. All other times he's kind, caring, listens, is insightful, and is genuinely interested in how I'm doing. Growing up, he'd come home from working all day at the office and we'd eat dinner as a family. I'm sure he would have rather laid around and watched TV, because that's what I see so many other dad's do when they are done working. But that's not what my dad did. My dad would get on the ground, wrestle three mangy kids at once, toss us around, and wear us out. If you've ever worked with kids before, you know they NEVER wear out, and we were BEAT after we were done wrestling with my dad. All this after a full day of work. But he wasn't done. He'd take the time to quiz us on our schoolwork, help us with projects, give us little facts about history, or help us study for our upcoming tests. Dad would be with us throughout the night, right up to the time he tucked us in at night.
My dad did all this because he loved us. But he also did all of this because he was an awesome husband. My sisters and I were home schooled for much of our lives. My mom would not only be a stay at home mom, but also a school teacher for us and other kids who she volunteered to teach as well. By the time that my dad got home from work, she was pretty sick and tired of us kids being little menaces all day. So, because my dad loved my mom so much, he'd take over watching the kids all night. And believe me, after a day full of mom, a playful day was just what the doctor ordered.
My dad has taught me what a man should be. A loving husband, a GREAT dad, and an extremely hard worker. I'll always look up to him as the best man I know.
Thanks dad.