Success is to be measured not so much by
the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has
overcome.
- Booker T. Washington
Now this title may sound a bit depressing, and I guess it
is, but bear with me. This past week was very quiet and I have decided to use
this as an opportunity to answer my most asked question: Who writes the blogs?
So I am going to be a little selfish today and tell you about myself. Yay!
Well this is me. I was graced with the name Madison Marie
Karakis on my date of birth, but I typically go by Maddie. I am Nick’s dorky,
eldest daughter ( of three ), and I don’t have to ask because I already know
that I am the favorite…duh. I am an animal lover, artist, singer, and writer.
Because of my wonderful father I also love to hunt and fish. I am currently 19,
and if you come to stay in August my birthday falls on the 8th. Oh
and I really like presents (hint hint). But seriously please don’t bring me
presents my dad might actually kill me haha! I am currently enrolled at The
University of Findlay in Ohio for pre-vet and animal sciences, but for personal
reasons I plan to transfer somewhere new and start back this spring semester. Please
try to refrain from asking me what I plan to do with my life unless you want a
4 hour long conversation and a rant about the cost of school. Approach the topic
at your own risk. I am in love with the color green, and can talk for hours
about animals and my achievements in FFA. I am an avid republican (sorry not
sorry). I have a relentless hatred for mosquitos and the color pink.
Now you
are probably wondering where the title came from. I am going to divulge in a
little self pity for a moment. When you are here you may notice that on
occasion I may disappear for a day, or you may see me sort of hobble around. About
a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. *Gasp!*
Queue the comments about being too young and sorry that I have to deal with it.
It has been hard yes, but it is what I like to call a silent disease. You can’t
see it (usually), and you can’t tell it hurts unless the person says so. It is
one of those things that is impossible to explain the impact it has on your
life to someone who doesn’t have it. Now the point of this is not to make you
feel sorry for me, but to tell you how Wine Lake has helped me in dealing with
it these past few months.
My Home
The pain in my joints
does not compare
To the view before my
eyes
A sight of like I’ve
never seen before
From the trees to the
blue of the skies
The joyful chatter of
friends and family
As they talk about
their day
And the sounds of children’s
footsteps
As they run around
and play
The birds will chirp
as the squirrels will play
The sounds of motors
flow through the air
From the trees, the
cabins, all around the place
They fill the camp
with cheer
There is the smell of
gasoline and flowers
As it comes to tickle
your nose
And the smell of
fires, fish, and charcoal
That clings to
everyone’s clothes
Though illness tries
to grab me
And pull my spirit to
the ground
All I need in order
to heal me
Is to take a look
around
And while my joints
may ache and hurt me
And my arthritis is a
pain
I have this beautiful
world around me
And my pain is not in
vain
It is beautiful and
peaceful
And you never are
alone
It is for all these
many reasons
That I can call Wine
Lake my home
-Madison Karakis
Now I
have definitely struggled a little bit with my pain this last week, but still I
would rather be here than anywhere else. The people here and the atmosphere give
me a reason to keep doing what I am doing no matter the pain.
So, since
you know more about me I have a little about these past 2 weeks for you. Last week
was the first week that we have had a lot of younger kids, and let me tell you
some of them put the adults to shame! Man did everyone hammer fish last week.
These
are the fish entries for 2 days. There had to be at least 500 fish here. It
took 2 and a half hours to get them all on the board. It was incredible! On top
of that we had lots of young ones helping to clean fish.
It was a very good week for the boys in the family to get
together and bond. But hey, it is not limited to boys. When I was little I
would go hunting with my dad, and we would be surrounded by dads and their sons.
Guess who kicked their butts every time…me duh. So don’t be afraid to have a
daddy-daughter week.
Two weeks
ago there were two 36” Lake Trout caught that I was unable to show you because
I did not have the pictures yet, but they were truly huge! Take a look:
Awesome
right? It is amazing what you can find here in this lake! Although there wasn’t
too much excitement this week we did have our first ever fish competition tie! There
was a huge battle over the money and few made it out with their lives, it was
all very emotional. Just kidding the boys were very civil about it and were
able to work it out.
There were some more exciting events such as bunnies, and
egg laying. But the best part was when I challenged my dad to a game of corn
hole and totally kicked his butt! Just kidding…I couldn’t even beat him in my
dreams! It was still fun though! I am so lucky to have a guy like him!
It was a very nice week; the weather was very average. We
got to enjoy a little of everything. Now as for pushing through the pain: yeah
sometimes I hurt, it can be hard to deal with, and sometimes it can bring me
down, but it is not a stop sign. It acts as a yield. It may force me to slow
down, but maybe just as a reminder to stop and smell the roses haha. If
everything was the same then nothing would exist. Everything would be black,
and who would enjoy that? So yeah, I have an obstacle, but this obstacle causes
me to lie a little differently. To think outside the box for solutions. Most
importantly it helps make me stronger every day when I feel like I can’t get
out of bed and I do. When you feel like you will never be the same as anyone
else remember to look for WHAT makes you different not WHY you are different.
I will
leave you with this: everyone’s life is different. There are different
struggles all the time. Different challenges may take different tolls on
people. Before you decided someone has it much easier, or much harder than you
understand than in order to see through someone else’s eyes you must first
understand what you are seeing through your own.
