This Easter was a bit different than the last one, simply because I actually came home for this one. I’ve moved away from my home in Sebastian since college started, on account of the fact that a two and a half hour commute every morning to class in Miami sounds and probably would be miserable.

With the distance, away from my family, my friends and other similar settings, I’ve had a lot more time to sit and think. I’ve been able to just sit down and find myself, you know? You do enough exploration into your own mind and ask enough questions, you can find a lot out about the person you are. This has lead me to newer and better ways of speaking to people and treating them, a less sugar-coated understanding of the world around me, a unique sense of freedom and even a new philosophy on modern religion.

I’ve ventured into the whole “Why” phase in my life and it's got me trying to figure out where I stand on all the things I was taught to do growing up. I’m coming up on a new chapter in my life, as this fall I’ll(finally) be 21. With each passing day, to the dismay of my mother, I become more and more my own person, and the unwritten rules of being a good son become more and more problematic to my way of life. I’ll figure it out somewhere along the way, but for right now, I gotta figure out how to make this Easter Holiday with my family work.

So, I came home, mostly because my boy Nicky Day, my local American Hero was also coming back home this weekend, and I wanted to offer up my home as his spot to kick back, shoot some pool, play some pong, and catch up with some of the family. Since I’ve been home, I’ve even gotten to spend a lot of time with my own family, and it’s been really nice. I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on my time back home, when we’d wake up(most) Sundays and go to church to receive the sacrament, pay our respects, and the whole shebang, and it’s kind of beautiful. So many people in one place, just loving one another, and having a good time. It almost makes it worth it to only get a couple solid hours of sleep and walk into the church looking more than a zombie than you did on Halloween a couple years back. The key word, was “almost”.

Regardless of how hard my friends and I partied on Saturday night, and how little I felt like keeping my mouth shut for an hour straight, I got up, and went to Good Ol’ Saint Sebastian Catholic Church. Don’t get me wrong, I spent most of that hour Snapchatting, and reciting Kanye lyrics in my head and laughing, but I went. What made it easier for me to go was knowing that it was going to make my Godson, Jayden and my mom happy if I went.So, I did. I knew it would make Jayden happy simply because just about everything makes him happy. That kid is a little wound up ball of joy ready to burst and shine on you at any moment. And I knew it would make my mom happy because it’s kind of a tradition for my family. My little sister is in high school, and she’ll be out of the house soon, just like me. I know that has to be tough for my parents, so I take just about every opportunity to make them as happy as I can when I’m actually around, even if it might conflict with my own beliefs a little bit.

Even though I didn’t agree with what was going on and being said during the service or the way that certain lessons and “virtues” were being taught, it was still an amazing feeling to look over at my mom and dad and see them smiling back at me. While tradition just for the sake of tradition has no merit at all, sometimes seeing your parents happy outweighs any amount of merit.