It was another wonderful autumn day in southern Minnesota. It was a Friday in September. The warm weather was starting to fade, as it always does in Minnesota, but there was football to be played that night, plus it was the eve of my 16th birthday. I was particularly excited, because in my family owning a car was not a privlege, it was a momentous step showing who that person is. When you drive that car on your own for the first time, it is a sign of manhood. My father is one of the hardest working people I've ever known. He is a mechinic and has been since he turned 22. Before that he owned many cars that he had built and raced by himself. One of the biggest thing he taught me was the satisfaction from doing something yourself makes it even better. As any boy does at one time, just being with my father and being able to watch him work is one of the fondest memories I have. My father has an eleborate garage that can easily fit three cars wide plus he has two hoists to lift the cars. I have worked on many things in the garage: my go-kart, dirtbike, snowmobiles, and countless other objects some kids only dream of. It was about the second week in September, I was going to school in Wisconsin, and we were playing against Minnesota Schools. We weren't a very skilled class when it came to football, I think we were like 1-5 at the time, but every week, even though we would probably lose, we were so excited to be the talk of the school and couldn't wait to play. It was, once again, the best part about the fall playing football just talking to the other guys, wearing the same jersey's at school. Even if you didn't care for them it still felt like you were best of friends. Then came the end of the day when you become even more excited, because you know in a couple hours you would be suiting up and playing what could possibly be your last game. I was excitied to play, but being the starting tight end in a football team that ran the ball ninety p