"We Are The Champions" blares through the truck radio, and my dad and I scream along. It's a beautiful evening, the sun is just beginning to set, and the windows are all the way down. We are on the way back from my baseball practice, and I hadn't won anything, but I felt like a winner spending time with my dad. 

Sometimes I felt like I was in The Sandlot. I'd ask my dad to play catch, but he'd always be too busy. Now that I'm a grown-up, I get it. I asked him to play ball a lot, and don't get me wrong, he did play catch with me many times. But many times was never enough, and I'm thinking maybe next time I see him, I'll ask if he wants to throw the ball around, for old-times sake. 

I sing a lot. And I don't mean that I have a beautiful voice and belt out songs like an angel. Not at all. Quite the opposite, really. I just sing along to the things that I'm doing. Croak out tunes that have never been sung before, and will never be sung again. I realize now, I got it from my dad, and I don't regret it. I can still hear the way he tapped his foot to the beat of his own fictional songs on the kitchen floor. Singing silly songs now brings me joy, and it annoys the crap out of my own kid, which I guess is the point, isn't it? 

I've taken over my dad's most famous at-home song rendition of all time, and it really does work like a charm. "You can't always get what you want!" A classic dad anthem by the Rolling Stones. The perfect lyrical choice for the child in your life throwing a tantrum over something silly. My kid reacts the same way I used to, and I hope one day, he makes his kid just as angry as I make him and my dad made me. 

Some of the best memories with my dad were the trout fishing tournaments we would enter every April. My siblings and I would all get up way earlier in the morning than we were used to. We would pile into his truck with fishing poles in tow, and we would go down to the pond for mostly unsuccessful ventures. 

One time though, when I was really little, my dad performed magic. I had found a tiny, little dead fish floating in the water off the beach (it was a feeder fish that fell off a hook). I decided right then and there, a fish is a fish, and I was going to enter it into the contest. My dad humored me, and when we got back to the house, the tiny, little feeder fish had turned into a decent-sized rainbow trout. Realistically, he probably caught it while I wasn't paying attention and decided to surprise me, but I prefer to think he is just a secret wizard. 

Don't get me wrong. Things weren't always sunshine and rainbows with my father. I was the eldest daughter of three, and by nature, I've been rebellious since before I could talk. I think the worst thing I ever told my dad was that I didn't believe in God. It might be the greatest point of contention in our relationship, and it still causes many 

I was pretty young when I drew this conclusion, and I did it on my own. I know my father felt like a failure, but I don't think that's the case. He was too hard on himself for it, and I think something that parents often forget is that their children are their own people. Their views don't have to align perfectly with yours. Still, upon this realization and confession, we made a compromise to try and lessen the blow of this new information. "If you get confirmed in the church, I'll never make you go again." Deal. I took it, with ease. And I never stepped foot in the Catholic church again (with the exception of funerals; I'm a non-believer, not a monster). 

I don't think he was expecting me to be as headstrong as I was and am, but he has to realize, I got it all from him. I'm great at debates because the ultimate debate partner is my stubborn, Taurus, father. I always wanted to be like him. I always wanted to be like Mike. And I realize now, that I am.

Though we don't always (see: never) align on our views of the world, we aren't afraid to have difficult conversations with each other. We aren't afraid to butt heads. In turn, I'm not afraid to stand up for what I believe in, and I'm especially not afraid to go head-to-head (intellectually) with any man. My dad taught me how to think for myself and stand strong in my convictions. While I know he disagrees with many decisions I've made over my 26 years around the sun (film school, having a child at 21, getting tattoos... I think you get the picture), he can be proud of the fact that he has a daughter who always follows through on what she says she's going to do. And he should be proud of himself for teaching that to me. 

Take me out to the ballgame! Nothing like a perfect spring Florida afternoon to watch a game and soak in the feels of a baseball stadium.

Mick Haupt

Like Mike

For my father. 

"We Are The Champions" blares through the truck radio, and my dad and I scream along. It's a beautiful evening, the sun is just beginning to set, and the windows are all the way down. We are on the way back from my baseball practice, and I hadn't won anything, but I felt like a winner spending time with my dad. 



Like Mike

For my father.

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Like Mike

For my father.

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Girl with the Pearl Earring

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