Kaylie walks into her old room in her parent’s house. It’s time to grab all that was left behind to either give it away or take it back to her college dorm room. She goes into her closet to pack all of her clothes. Upon reaching to grab her hat at the top of her closet, she knocks over a box that comes stumbling down to the ground. “What’s this?” she thinks to herself. She opens the box and inside is a stack of letters that her father had written to her when he would work away from the states when she was little. Kaylie goes through and reads through the letters. Most of them talked about how much her dad missed her and promised to take her to her favorite ice-cream shop when he would come back. Then, she noticed a shiny gold medal that was buried underneath the letters and next to it was a diamond silver necklace. Kaylie felt a shed of tear dripping down from her face and landing on the letter, smearing some of the words. She reminisces of the past and all the wonderful memories she shared with her father. Her father always tried his best to be there for Kaylie and made her feel loved even though she didn’t have both of her parents. 

In one memory, Kaylie was 16 years old and had been practicing all week for the cross country competition. She trained very hard and couldn’t wait to surprise her dad. Her dad was on another work trip outside of the states, but he said he will come home fast for her competition. The day before the race, she heard that Gabriella was going to be participating in the competition. Gabriella was Kaylie’s rival. She has been running ever since she was little and was always participating in running competitions. She was a pretty blonde, city girl, very tall, and had long legs which gave her a huge advantage. Kaylie was now stressing about the competition, so that day instead of resting, she went running for five miles. This wasn’t the best decision because she needs all the energy she could get for tomorrow, but running always helped her clear her mind and relax. And it worked. When she finished running, she felt her phone inside her pocket vibrate. She sees that it’s her dad calling her. “Dad? Why’s he calling me?” she wondered. She answered the phone and heard disappointing news. Her father might not be able to make it to her competition because of his work. She sighed and went home. She sat in her bedroom and all she could do was stress about tomorrow. She held her diamond silver necklace and after a couple of minutes she was able to relax. 

When her mother was in the hospital, before she passed away she had given Kaylie a diamond necklace. Her mom told her that whenever she felt lonely, to wear that necklace and know that her mom will always be by her side. 

The day of the competition finally comes. Kaylie goes to the starting line, right next to Gabriella. They make eye contact and they both know that the game is on. Kaylie looks at the crowd and searches for her father. Sadly, he’s not there. She shakes her head and tells herself that she's got this. “THREE, TWO, ONE!” The gun goes off and all racers rush forward. Gabriella takes the lead with Kaylie right behind her. They stay at that pace for awhile but Kaylie starts to lose energy. She is slowly slowing down and her hope is diminishing along with her stamina. She sees the finish line not too far away. Except, right next to it is a tall figure. “Dad! He came!” she rejoices in her mind. Suddenly, all of her energy came up and she started running faster. She catches up to Gabriella and soon takes first place. Gabriella was left wide-eyed but is now too far behind for her to catch up. Kaylie runs through the finish line and the crowd cheers. She was then awarded a gold medal for first place. Her dad runs up to her and hugs her. “Good Job kiddo! Sorry about the wait, I got here as fast as I could.” That’s one thing that Kaylie has always admired her dad for. No matter how busy he was,  he always tried his very best to make time for Kaylie and was always there for her. Kaylie knew that when she was older, she would always want to make time and be there for her kids. She dreams of having a family of her own where they are all close and have a strong bond between them just like the bond she has with her dad.