My Weekend

This weekend was a great getaway, a great adventure, and a great realization.

The getaway started with a spur of the moment decision to head to the cabin. Ty, Dad, and I set out on Friday for the cabin. Two hours later we were there and ready to go. I'm not sure what exactly I was getting away from back home, but I felt like I needed to get away. The cabin has always been a place where I could do that. Life at the cabin is so carefree that you forget about things going on at home. It's only two hours away, but that little cabin on the Allegheny River might as well be a thousand miles away. I'm not bothered by anything while I'm up there.

Ty, Chris, and I had a real adventure on Saturday. We woke up and set out to find "Baldy". Baldy is a rock that overlooks the river. The rock has about a two hundred foot drop down through the trees. The three of us searched for three hours before we realized that my Dad's directions had led us astray. We doubled back to the cabin and our neighbor Flo said she would take us up to it. Twenty minutes later I had a complete view of the river and the mountains across the river. It's views like that one that make you step back and realize how beautiful life is. After taking in that special view Flo asked us if we wanted to go inside Baldy's cave. I'm no cave explorer but I figured what the hell? It looked like only Flat Stanley could get through cave's opening but Flo showed us how to wiggle our way inside. The inside of the cave was spectacular. A hallway led deep down below and there was one room on each side of the hallway. Breathtaking is the closet I can come to describing that trip.

The realization came last night around the fire. Chris had left to go back home after dinner so it was my Dad, his step dad, Ty, and myself sitting around the fire. We talked about random things and somehow drugs came up. Listening to my Dad and Pappy talk about drugs was surreal. Pappy has experienced nearly every drug and his stories are just strange. Funny, but strange. I realized after Pappy and Dad left the fire exactly where I've come from. I come from a long line of smokers, drinkers, and addicts. I have roots in that cabin. A cabin  where vulgarity, dysfunction, and delinquency are the three main attributes. The vulgarity doesn't define my family though. Neither does the delinquency or the history of addiction. More than anything the cabin and my family represent a long line of hard workers, lovers, and people who like to have a good time. The cabin has been an escape for my family for decades and will continue to be for years to come. My family has molded me into the person I am today. 


I am my father's son. I am my grandmother's grandson. I am a product of the cabin. I am not a drinker, smoker, addict, or a delinquent. But I'm still a Forse. 

Through my family's examples and their misfortunes I have become the young man I am today.

I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

NP: The Reason- Hoobastank