If...

If my father had not been born and raised in a small town on the outskirts of Syracuse New York
and later drafted into the Vietnam War where he was promoted to captain
and later chose to be honorably discharged from the military
and return to civilian life, and then moved to West Virginia to continue his forestry job where he bought a house in the mountains that did not have plumbing
which made him need to find a place to shower that led him to start playing volleyball at the YMCA
where he met the man who later became my uncle
who asked him to go on a date with his friend and her sister
who later became my mother
and decided to continue dating and eventually moved with him to a forestry nursery in Michigan
where they lived for a while and later decided to accept a promotion that led to a job in the Washington D.C. office and a pay increase
which in return encouraged them to start a family that started with my oldest brother Paul and then a year later Ernest
both of whom inspired my parents to have a final and best son who happened to be me
which prompted them to leave the city and raise a family in the final frontier
then I would not be living in Alaska
where I was able to gain a love for the outdoors
and all of its activities with my family such as hiking and camping and snowboarding and bow and rifle hunting and fly fishing in Alaska's great wilderness
as well as beginning my formal education in the school district
and becoming a senior in Eagle River High School where I look to the future in hopes of success and happiness
and plan on attending a college in either Bellingham Washington or Bozeman Montana
and hopefully major in environmental sciences or design
and continue to live a great life.