Dear Waco,
Thank you for being my home for these past two years, and thank you for letting me have a crush on you throughout high school too. I waited patiently for you during those years. I counted down the days until I got to call you "home" and start my year as a Baylor student. You filled me with hopes of late nights, lake days, car jam sessions to the Czech Bakery, and all the glories my siblings had during their years here. I hoped to explore your wonders with my new college friends and to fill up even my lonely days with all you have to offer. You're big enough to escape the crowd on days when I don't want to be seen, but small enough to keep yourself friendly and welcoming. You've been everything I wished for and more.
Thank you for filling me with awe when I visit Cameron Park. You've let me mountain bike your trails, and I know you didn't laugh when I fell so many times. You didn't judge me when the bike fell on me and I muttered the F word. You didn't chastise me when I skipped class to lay in the grass and watch the Brazos River with my best friends. You kept all our secrets that we talked about and don't use them against us.
Thank you for being so close to Dallas, College Station, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. You've let me remain close with all my high school friends because of this, and you have let me visit some of my new friends' cool hometowns. Thank you for being so close to airports so I can go home easily, and thank you for being close to ACL every year. You're the perfect driving distance to Jerry World but far enough to keep me away from those weird Horned Frogs. You're right in the middle of everything I could need in Texas.
Thank you for BSR Cable Park. Never have I ever been more humbled by my water sport abilities than when I tried to wakeboard there. Falling so many times in a row was good for my pride issues and really put me back in my place. I needed to be put in line. Thank you for the terrifying new slide that all my friends will peer pressure me into trying. I know I won't regret it once I go down my first time.
Thank you for Lake Whitney, Lake Waco, and the Brazos River. Although the Brazos and Lake Waco give me the heebie jeebies, they are definitely beautiful from afar. I'm sure if I took the time to actually find a safe and legal place to enjoy them, I would enjoy it. Lake Whitney and all its beauty make up for it, though. I'm thankful I get to risk my life there every time I get talked into cliff jumping at Soldier's Bluff. Definitely well worth it.
Thank you for allowing Baylor to build the beautiful gift to this world that is McLane Stadium and allowing Waco to roar with Baylor's cheering every home game. It's been over 1000 days since Baylor lost its last home game, and all Baylor fans know you have something to do with it (that and Art Briles and RG3 and Bryce Petty and Brilisms and College GameDay and back-to-back champions the "We Are Going To Win" sign and ice fog and 61-58- but that's another story).
Thank you for all your beautiful old buildings in downtown Waco that are illegal to climb and that I definitely have stayed away from. The beauty that can be seen on a clear night atop the Alico building and the silos is unmatched. I have you to thank for some of my most romantic nights looking at your city night lights, the stars, and the newly lit Brazos River bridges. Speaking for a friend, of course.
Thank you for your hole-in-the-wall restaurants like Taco Z's, The Olive Branch, Lolita's, and Lula Jane's. Taco Z's is not only always (cheaply) there for me when I need a quick snack before work, but it is also always there for me the morning after a long couch burning type of night celebrating another Baylor victory. The Olive Branch has never failed me with its fantastic pancakes and too tempting, too close, Spice Village. It's the perfect recipe for Saturday mornings with my girls. Lolita's is just a farther away version of Taco Z's in case I really don't want to be seen by the public eye, and Lula Jane's fulfills all my hipster needs for a solid month.
Waco, you're more than enough. Thank you for always surprising me. I know some people have their doubts of you and think that you're a wasteland, but to me, you'll always be a wonderland.
Sincerely,
Just Another Baylor Student.
