The Fireworks I Never Had

Hey guys,

So, recently, I went to the North Carolina State Fair with my girlfriend and a group of her friends. To be very brief, the fair wasn't all that great for me, to start out with. First of all, due to my ongoing brain injury, it immediately ruled out riding any fair ride, because all those rides do is make you dizzy, which I am dizzy enough already without the rides. So, as soon as we got there, my group went to the rides. I waited patiently while they had fun, watching the ground to avoid the constant strobe and bright lights of the fairground activities. It wasn't all bad though, I became the guy who stood in line for my friends while they rode other rides, and I held a spot for them! That's the life right there, for real. But we got done with the rides after a few hours, and we got to the real reason I came, for the food. We indulged ourselves on funnel cake, fried oreos, lemonade, and ice cream, a great night. Also, I had a Krispy Kreme burger, a hamburger patty in between two original glazed doughnuts, which was actually phenomenal. It really was good, to be honest.

Now, I thought that was going to be the end of the night. But, as I stood there sipping a three dollar small lemonade(crazy) and standing in the freezing cold(like 60 degrees(crazy)), I heard a loud bang. This was unlike the turkey shoot bangs and the Shoot-Out-The-Star game bang, but a massive, booming bang only one thing can produce at the State Fair-fireworks. I turned around, and over the skyline of the fair tents and ride structures, rose beautiful rockets which exploded into a spiral of white, gold, red, and blue. I watched, mesmerized by these beautiful explosions, and stared into them for a very long time. Only when my girlfriend had been looking at me and asked, "Are you having an emotional connection with these fireworks?"did I know that I was indeed having an emotional connection. These were the fireworks I never got on the unfortunate Fourth of July, the fireworks that I almost died for to not see. I stood there, surrounded by people coming and going, not noticing the fireworks, but I did. I waited for the very last firework to explode, after a fantastic finale of gold and red, blue and green, orange and yellow, white and purple. It was one of the most touching moments of my life, and I am very glad that I was there to experience the fireworks I never had.

So, in the grand scheme of things, when something means a lot to you, you can't let that opportunity pass. I stood there, close to tears, thinking about how far I've come since that day and how lucky I am to be able to go out to the fair and watch these fireworks. It really was a special day, so special I thought to share it with you all.

Happy training, guys.