Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE IRISH EXPERIENCE: THE PRICE OF SMOKING
COMING WEDNESDAY
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
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Does spending your summer beating your best Zelda times count as nerdy?
I shot a gun for the first time today. It was glorious.
Salsa shark. We're gonna need a bigger boat.
I want a puppy!
How do I ask a girl out for dinner platonically?
How do I ask a girl out for dinner non-platonically?
I think I've officially become a grammar Nazi.
My mom just asked me if I thought Bill O'Reilly was hot...
Sat alone all night with no calls or texts or Facebook notifications. I love my life.
Do people from Kansas realize that there are 49 other states?
Thank god somebody killed that song.
--for the chemo, which was implanted in his chest.
I'm being Zeus for the night!
EDITOR'S NOTE
This Father's Day, spend time with the most important man in your life
This Sunday is a day many of us celebrate our fathers. Whether it's just a call, sending a card or spending the day with them, it's a day reserved for all children, young and old, to remember the greatest men in their lives.
This will be my 11th year without my father. My dad died when I was 12 after having cancer for two years and his death has affected almost every aspect of my life.
I was a selfish child, since I am the only one, and when my mom told me we wouldn't be taking the family vacation to Disney World, when I was 10, I was devastated. She'd told me daddy was sick and we'd have to go once he got better.
We eventually took the trip after my father had gone through multiple surgeries, rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. He'd lost weight and had bouts of anger. I still have the photos of the vacation, dad and I with smiles on our faces, his throat looking like raw hamburger meat and although you can't see it in photos, the port used
I remember everything. As painful as it is, I make myself remember, so I'll never forget. I remember the nights sitting up in strange hospital waiting rooms -waiting for whatever news was to come. I remember the times I had to watch my own father, the strongest person I knew, fall to his knees in pain while vomiting up blood and gripping the toilet bowl until his knuckles were white. I remember watching him cry for the first and only time in my life after co-workers had collected money for his treatments.
And I will always remember the day I was told he was gone forever.
The days following his death were a whirlwind. Picking out his casket and headstone with my mom and placing family photos in his suit jacket before he was lowered into the ground.
Those aren't the only things I remember about my father, though. I remember his smile, especially after I'd caught a bass. I remember his cowboy boots and the way he smelled of Stetson and old leather. I remember his encouragement and how he pushed me, even when I was just a kid.
No matter who you are, or how you feel about your dad, spend time with him this Sunday. Because you'll never know how great of a man he actually is until he's gone.
COMMENTARY
Reporter abroad misinterprets Irish charm
BY KAYLA REGAN
kregan@kansan.com
*Editor's Note: Regan, who was previously the living arrangements reporter, is currently living in Ireland and will be sharing her experiences abroad in a weekly column that will focus on everything from culture differences to study abroad to work. She will be interning for an LGBT publication in Ireland later in the summer and will periodically check in with The Kansan about her experiences.
My parents and I traveled around Ireland before I had to report to Dublin for my study abroad program this month. We were in Kinsale, a small artsy town, on my mother's birthday and celebrated with a few too many drinks at dinner, followed by
more at a pub.
A nice elderly couple sat next to us at the pub, and after I told them I was a journalism student, the woman replied, "Well you've got a face for T.V."
The reaction that went through my head was something like "Hell yeah, someone thinks I'm pretty!"
She fueled my vanity more with comments such as "With your wit, you'll do great!" and before we left, she called to me to come closer.
"This is so European!" I thought, sure that she was going to kiss my cheek.
I got in position and touched my check to hers. She pulled away very quickly and told me good luck. As we walked back to the hotel my dad teased, "You tried to kiss an old woman!"
"Did not!!" jelled back.
I totally did, and the worst part
was that I realized I wasn't the worldly traveler I likened myself to be.
From June 5 to August 3 I will be living in Dublin, experiencing life abroad. I'll be checking back in with The Kansan and letting you know what I learned about the culture, as well as our own.
Mark Twain wrote "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts."
With Twain's words in mind, I think some travel is just what I need.
- Edited by Justin Hilley
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