Speech tournament

As most people have to do in there undergrad experience, I too had to take Public Speaking. My particular instructor was considered one of the hardest, but also one of the most engaging. Every speech was without notes (with the exception of our formal speech) and in fact, the first day of class we had to participate in the bag of death, impromptu speeches. It all culminated at the end in a speech tournament. 

Now let me go to my childhood. My parents did their best to make it to elementary award ceremonies and things like that, but they both worked and so it was very difficult for them to attend during the school day. I remember getting called up for honor roll sometimes and being sad that my parents weren't there when other kids had their parents there. But at the end of my high school career, when award ceremonies were in evenings and on Saturdays, I felt like all of a sudden my parents were there in full force. In retrospect, I know it was the timing of things, but I kind of felt like all of a sudden they cared about my successes and challenges. And then in college, there was this speech tournament on a Saturday and my dad got all dressed up in a suit and came to cheer me on. I remember how excited he was when I got to the impromptu finals and how cheated he felt with me when I didn't win. 

It was this time period, end of high school and going into college where my father and I really started bonding and becoming best friends. By my sophomore year of college, I was rushing home every day to hang out with him all the time. I still did other things of course, but he really was the best. I am never going to have that feeling of warmth and love again snuggling on the couch with anyone else the same. That's one of the things I long for the most.