If I could go absolutely anywhere in all the great spans of galaxies and dimensions, I would choose to go to my skate park The Paradox. It’s the place where a lot of my best memories have happened. Nothing is better than the cool air hitting you as you stroll through the door. The sweet and alluring smell of bratwurst in the crock pot almost demanding you to sit down and eat. The sounds of rambunctious teens flying across the smooth cemented floor of the skate park  just smiling and being themselves despite living in a world of abuse and abandonment and so so so much more.  With its absolutely brilliant and vibrant green ramps. The way Bill, the skate park director, slowly but surely says with his uniquely booming yet humorous voice “Welcome to The Paradox where everything in the building can and will kill you!" and the thunderous laughter from the regular skaters that follows. It is a place I have called home for almost 5 years now. It is the place I got baptized. It is the place where my friend group started. It is my safe place in a world of confusion and stress.  I can still remember the nose burningly intense smell of the fresh paint on the ramps.  I can still remember the feeling of pure joy when I had realized I had finally achieved a family. A family of people who loved and cared for me dearly and that no matter what I could depend on even when maybe I couldn’t depend on blood. I still remember being on the edge of existing and no longer existing and Bill driving all the way to my house just to pick me up so I could skate and clear my mind even though the paradox was supposed to be closed that day. I remember the speech he gave me when I said don’t  worry, I won’t be back next week and the tears , the tears coming from his eyes as if I had stabbed him deep in his heart because he knew I probably wouldn’t be breathing then either. I remember him buying me a meal after I had decided I wasn’t going to eat for two days and the sweet, life giving taste of the ice cream after because he demanded I have some for finishing the meal. The people within and the paradox as a whole brought me from a place so dark I swear black holes wouldn’t dare go near. It’s seen me grow from that one kid who maybe on a good day would say a few words and maybe you saw him the next day maybe you didn’t. To the outgoing weirdo who seems to never stop talking and you better bet you’ll see the next day.   The Paradox is my home of good times and experiences that will leave mental and physical impressions on my life and there is nowhere else in this amazingly huge cosmos that I would rather be.