by Ashley Olson

Created on: June 24, 2009

The first crisp in the air, the start of football season, the annual fall picnic, these are all reasons why fall is my favorite season. The annual fall picnic is perhaps, the reason I love fall the most. Every year, without fail, my family and I drive to North Carolina where we have our picnic on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a 469 mile stretch of scenic highway that runs mostly through the Appalachian Mountains. We take time out of our busy lives to reconnect, enjoy each other's company, and enjoy the landscape, or more importantly the beautiful fall leaves. These beautiful leaves that we admire so faithfully every year, in a sense represent my life.

The leaves of spring are green, fresh and new, still attached to their parent, the tree. The leaves cling to the tree for nourishment, and growth. My parents began instilling good morals and values in me as a very young child. They taught me the right things to do, and more importantly they warned me where the wrong things would land me. They taught me the importance of family, friends, and God. Family always makes good friends, good friends become family, and with God in my life I will never be alone. My parents shaped me into the person I am today. I was attached to that tree for a very long time, learning to be strong, and independent, and learning to always stand my ground. My parents knew that fall would soon be approaching. I would need to know how to stand on my own. Life could soon take me down many different paths. They taught me how to weather the storms of life that I would soon be faced with.

The arrival of fall brings a very beautiful change, just as it did in my life. The spring leaves begin to change, gorgeous shades of yellow, orange and red now replace the green. All the things my parents have taught me start to play a real role in my life. I know how to make good decisions for myself. I know to stand my ground no matter what others say or do. I have made mistakes, and I have weathered many storms attached to the branches of my parents. My parents know that it is time to let go. They know they have taught me well, and the leaf that was once so green and crisp is now a vibrant red, a woman.

The first gust of wind that blew me from the tree was scary at times, but I was facing new and exciting things. I blew through the wind with the other fall leaves. Some leaves would become great friends and travel through life with me, and others I would

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