At age eight, my dad was busy with fulfilling his masters degree, working a full time job, or coaching five basketball teams. When he had one day free, he would ask me if I wanted to go and explore Wisconsin with him, and of course I said yes. Typically, when this would happen, we would take a walk around Oconomowoc Lake, but on this day he had decided that we would walk around downtown Oconomowoc. After I had skipped through the loud and busy streets of Oconomowoc, we eventually decided to stop inside of Roots. 

This small coffee shop was the perfect place to go to get away from the noisy atmosphere of downtown. Immediately after I walked in, I smelled the fresh bakery that had been made that day. I ran up to the counter, and I begged my dad for one of their blueberry scones. My dad bought one, and we went to sit down on the black leather couch to share this scone together. We talked about everything and anything. I talked about school and my friends, and he told me all about his many basketball teams. This scone was the gateway to a conversation with my very busy dad. 

At age ten, my dad had finished his masters degree, and he asked me if I wanted to work on homework with him. Yet again, I said yes. I walked up to the counter and I saw that very same blueberry scone. We ordered two blueberry scones, one for each of us. We sat down on that same black leather couch, and we both got out our work. I got out my vocabulary workbook, and he got out his laptop to work on a presentation for his work. While this time we didn't talk about school or basketball, we connected over our work. He helped me with my vocabulary book, while I gave him feedback on his presentation. This scone was the gateway to learning something new with my very busy dad. 

A little more recently, at age twelve, we decided to go back to Roots. At this time, I had finally gotten old enough to participate and play on one of the many basketball teams that my dad coached. When we had walked in, the familiar smell of fresh bakery lingered in the air. To nobody's surprise, I had ordered the same blueberry scone that I had ordered so many times before. This time my dad and I strategized the best ways for our team to run offensive plays. We watched countless videos, wrote notes, and eventually decided on our strategies. This scone was the gateway to a very successful season of middle school basketball.

These experiences make me love Wisconsin because businesses, like Roots, allow me to catch up with the people that I hold close to me.