I just want to say, Nevaeh or Vey as you go by now, if you’re out there and reading this, I love you and miss you, sorry I’m not there.
What I miss most about being outside? The water! I used to go swimming every day, sometimes several times a day, some days I didn’t even leave the water. Creeks mainly, but rivers too. I love the water, pools, sprinklers, the rain, I just love playing in the rain. Every summer, I’d camp out next to the water. I kept a tent and a square of carpet in the trunk of my car, I just never knew when I’d pitch a tent next to a creek. I loved it! I want to share one specific summer in 2009. My girlfriend, Brandi and our two year old daughter Nevaeh, were down on our luck. On a whim, due to our circumstances, we decided to move from Siloam Springs to Berryville, Arkansas. Brandi had lived there on and off and thought she could find us a spot until we figured something out. We didn’t have more than $20 to our name. Long story short, we didn’t find anyone to take us in and I couldn’t find steady work. We ended up staying on the Kings River, a nice little spot, but the banks were filled with busted glass. We hit up some food banks and got enough food to last us a month. What makes that particular month so rememberable was my daughter. She didn’t have a care in the world, she swam everyday, all day long. She didn’t even seem to notice we were eating out of the same can using the same spoon. We scored her this little crib mattress, and we brought pillows and blankets. We’d sleep under the stars. We also scored her this little plastic three wheeler, I tied a rope to it and I’d pull her around the river bank and play games, she loved it. I taught her to wave bye-bye to the sun at sunsets. I even had her hugging trees. I’d be like Náná go play with that tree and she’d go give it a hug, it was so cute, I had her hugging every tree from then on. But the good times came to an end, Brandi was getting tired of it, so we packed up and moved back to Siloam Springs. I just want to say, Nevaeh or Vey as you go by now, if you’re out there and reading this, I love you and miss you, sorry I’m not there.
