Are you ready for it?

My parents were not from Florida.

We were not technically Gators.

But my dad always loved the Gators… so naturally, I did too.

One of my best friends from my childhood, Jennifer, invited me to go up to the Swamp for a Florida Football game when I was 12.

We tailgated, whatever that is when you’re 12, with a ton of wild, vibrant, Gator lovin’ fans.

I was hooked.

Her brother was a Pharmacy student there. That day I knew where I was going to college.

It’s not where I wanted to go, it’s where I was going.

I’ve always been like this. I don’t just hope for something.

I manifest it.

So, Monday comes, back to 6th grade I go.

I attended Maitland Middle School in Maitland, Florida. I was in all honors classes. I was making straight A’s.

I was dancing 5-7 days and nights a week.

Have I told you I have a difficult time relaxing?

Because I do… I always have.

I’d rather be doing something… moving, studying, working. Bettering myself.

Let’s fast forward to starting at UF. There were a lot of rules, even lotteries. I did not understand why.

I was unaware you had to enter a “lottery” if you wanted season tickets to the football games.

Get this. If you got in, it wasn’t free! You had to pay $10 for every student ticket.

For a college student away from home for the first time, $10 is a lot when all your friends at other schools can just show up and stumble into the stadium 7 minutes before kickoff.

So, in typical Meredith fashion, I missed the lottery.

But someone in that ticket office must’ve known… I wanted to be there. At every single game possible.

There was a way you could enter an unclaimed tickets type thing every week before the game.

So I did.

And we went! My roommate, Jessica, and I loved tailgating and going to games together.

I was also in a sorority, pledging, so I was busy with them. Some game days I went with my sorority, others I went with my high school friends.

I had a lot of friends.

I have even more now!

And they know how much I LOVE Gator football. So does my family.

I literally bleed orange and blue.

My son was born on a Thursday. We were released from the hospital 2 days later, on a Saturday morning game day.

One of my best friends from my childhood visited us in the hospital. She also gifted us this adorable newborn jersey at my baby shower.

I changed him into it right when we got home.

This is my son, Logan Bentley. He was born on November 15, 2012.

When the doctor told me I was pregnant, I almost fainted.

My mom’s reaction may have been worse.

She looked like she saw a ghost.

But the next day, I went in for my first ultrasound. The tech happened to be one of my brothers’ best friends’ mom.

She told me my baby was a boy.

His due date was November 13, 2012.

Three years to the date my dad died.

I didn’t have a difficult choice to make.

My son was sent from my dad.

And I will accept any gift from my father.

I chose life. And I would do it again a million times if I had the choice.