I I step out of the car and onto the ground. I could feel the mud slide in between the crevices of my shoes. From the wet ground and the feeling under my shoes I could tell that it had been raining. I saw the glistening droplets of water still clinging on to each blade of grass and then I looked up at what had caught my attention. The new house. See we went to my dads friends and well too make a long story short he’s living in a new one and we came to visit it was my first time at his new house. I have visited the old house numerous times and I have spent many hours and days of my life their.

I looked around curiously investigating the new surroundings for signs of my Dad’s friend. My Dad got out of the car behind me and walked up to me. We heard the garage door opening so we looked towards that end of the house. We heard the loud rumbling and clanging of a motor. I looked up at my Dad’s face and saw his mouth began to take the shape of a grin. I looked to where he was looking and saw my Dad’s friend approaching us with four wheelers. The closer he got the thicker the cloud of exhaust got. It was so thick that I could taste the smell of burnt fuel.

I looked back up at my Dad and his face lit up with joy. I saw a sense of excitement and adventure within my Dad’s eyes. “You guys want to follow me through the woods” yelled my Dad’s friend as he approached us with a second four wheeler. My Dad looked at me with his face full of excitement and said “Are you ready this is gonna be great.” I agreed and we leaped onto the four wheeler my Dad in front and me on back. My Dad’s friend sitting on the other one nodded at us and gave us the go.

In that moment I realized that my Dad a “rough and tough kinda guy” was experiencing how it felt to be a kid again. I knew this from all of the stories that he would tell me from when he was a kid over and over again. I knew that he has done this before but it has been awhile.
I looked up and saw that my Dad’s friend has already taken off into the woods. We started her up and take off through the woods behind. I could feel the air fighting against my face as we ducked,dipped twisted,slid and leaped over the mounds of mud. My Dad would look back at me and yell “having fun” and I would reply back with a very loud and enthusiastic yes. My Dad yelled and cheered as we leaped,slid and soared through the air.

I had another realization and realized this was more than just my Dad becoming a kid again. It was me experiencing his other side. A side to him that People normally don’t know about or don’t ever get to see. It showed me that everyone has a different sad to them and they don’t always show it not because they are trying to hide it but an event has not occurred to let their caged up emotions loose.

I looked up as the light was shining through the cracks between the intertwining leafs and trees and seeing that we were coming to the end of our adrenaline and mudded soaked journey. We shot out through the trees and came to a stop in front of the house and I looked at my Dad and he said “I haven’t felt like this in years.” I nodded in agreement with him.

That final statement shined a new light onto all of my thoughts. He may not have understood what he just said but it reassured me that he felt like a kid again. Today when I talk to my Dad about this he denies and puts on that tough guy act for the family but somewhere deep down in that mind of his he knew how great it felt to be a kid again and I knew how great it felt to spend time with my Dad.