meet nick

This is Nick.

 

Hi, I'm Nick. I'm a thirteen-year-old nerd who enjoys running, coding, and Tame Impala music. I could list off things I enjoy for numerous, repetitive paragraphs, but I'm here to give you my why. Why I went through all the financial risks, put in the all-nighters, and even created an Instagram account with the Locallyhappy project. 

I would like you to picture your family. Maybe you have a brother or sister. What about a pet? Is it a goldfish, cat, dog, or a wild ferret? Now, imagine your parents. Here is where answers start to shift. The questions about siblings, and pets were generally objective. However, the parents are far more in question. Some people have two parents. Some have one. Some have two parents, in two lives. Some have two of the same gender. Some sadly lack the comfort, and warmth of a parent, and are left to a grandparent or a failing foster care system. If you couldn't tell so far, I'm talking about family issues. Some could call mine family trauma.

divorce; noun; the legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body.

As I set in the 'special meeting' with a family counselor, you never really know what to say. I went with my dad for the first day, the introduction to a new life. Maybe not a new life, but a new chapter. We did the awkward mom, and dad swaps the same house scenario for a while. Now, we're doing a fifty-fifty rotation. Fun fact, I've written this paragraph in two houses. I started it at my mom's, now I'm at my dad's for the weekend. But, it's hard. As I'm sure far too many people can attest to, it's difficult. You're used to seeing both your parents either after work or at home. Now you only get to see them half the time. Don't even get me started on the leaving things at the other house scenarios.

 

I'm now in a better place than I was eight months ago, but it's still hard. There are things you cannot do anymore. My mom is back working, after being a teacher, then a stay-at-home mom for a few years. Now, we don't get to spend summers with her any longer; it sucks. But I went through some of the darkest times of my life in the last handful of months. I ran to escape. The methodical tapping of my feet was predictable, something that was hard to come across. I still run. I did a track season at my school, and just this month, May, I ran one hundred miles in my grandma's name for Brain Cancer Awareness Month. 

 

But, running, and going to the gym to better no one but myself helped me get through it. We still have ups and downs here and there, but everyone is happier now. We're able to smile more. That's the very goal of Locallyhappy. The world is a shithole. COVID, Climate Change, growing wars in European countries, it fucking sucks. But when we can, let's smile. And, let's let others smile with us. Let's smile together. And to be happy, you have to be Locallyhappy. Meaning you are happy, locally, i.e. in your head.

Love you all.