My Essay on Ravishly: “How Watching Dawson’s Creek Brought Me Closer To My Dad”

Would you believe that I actually forgot to share one of my published essays, friends?!? Well, I did — that’s certainly a first! But maybe it’s fate because my father’s birthday is tomorrow and this essay for Ravishly is all about one of my favorite traditions with him: Watching Dawson’s Creek together!!

Everyone remembers the sudsy teen soap from the ’90s, right? Oh, it was just great, don’t you think?? The adventures of Dawson and his friends was one of the hallmarks of my teen years and it’s also one of my hallmark memories…with my father! I sometimes think he actually liked the show more than I did. We’d watch it every week together and debate the finer points of the plot. Looking back now, I truly treasure those moments we shared together, just sitting in our small living room in each other’s company.

Here’s an excerpt of the essay, which gave me a HUGE dose of ’90s nostalgia as I was writing it…

It wasn’t until just a few years ago, shortly after his death, that everything began to make sense: Dawson’s Creek might not have been his favorite show, but the time we got to spend together for a solid 60 minutes? That was really what he was after. Sure, we’d have fun debates about whether Dawson or Pacey is our favorite (admittedly, I’ve waffled over the years, but always seem to come back to Dawson), but the older I get, the more I realize just how quickly time goes by. Life is hectic and messy. So many things are out of our control. My father knew this, so when he saw an opportunity to sprinkle some moments of happiness into the messiness, he grabbed onto that.

I never want his death to overshadow how he lived and all the things he taught me. We might not have talked much during those episodes of Dawson’s Creek (confession: I spent much of the hour swooning over Dawson), but we were together. For a whole hour, there was this unspoken bond between us.

You can read the full essay here and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to email me anytime at mellow1422@aol.com and let’s chat! And of course, feel free to share my essay on Facebook, Twitter or even your local refrigerator. If you share on Twitter, be sure to tag me @melissablake so we can connect! I can’t wait to hear from you! Love you all… xoxo