For years, my grandparents had been wanting to visit the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, but always had other plans while the festival was going on. However, when I asked my grandparents if they wanted to go to the festival with me, they excitedly agreed and decided to skip church that Sunday to go with me on the coolest day of the month. We planned to rendezvous at a Target on Arapahoe Road and I-25, so we could drive together to the arts festival and back.

I wasn’t excited about the driving part, but I was determined to do it as part of my exposure therapy to highway driving, city driving, and scariest of all, parking garage parking. On top of that, to attend the actual arts festival, I’d have to face my fear of crowds and not get overly stressed when I’m standing shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers. If I could tolerate all of those things at once and still have lots of fun, then an entire city would open up for me. 

Plus, I wanted some inspiration for my own art. I’ve been strongly considering selling my own art to the public, and hoped to find some encouragement and motivation to do so at one of the best art festivals in the country. 

At around 8:30 AM, I began to make my way east towards my Target destination, blasting Creed Fisher and Luke Kaufman as I drove with the windows rolled down, breathing in the crisp, cool air. Whether or not I felt it, I had to feign confidence and excitement to stave off the fear and doubt that were trying to get me to turn my truck around towards home. 

My grandparents arrived at Target at exactly the same time I did. We parked side-by-side towards the back of the parking lot, and I got out to exchange hugs and discuss plans. Once we agreed on where to park, my grandpa took shotgun while my grandma agreed to be our backseat driver.