Dad,
My hero, my backbone, my support system, my mentor, and my inspiration. My first love, as every father is to their daughter. Those are just some of the titles you hold in my life.
You have given me the world. I like to think of it as my world though. Each day you fill it with one of your countless endearing qualities. Perhaps, it's your brilliance, your selflessness, your positivity, or resilience. But, everyday it is your love. That is what gets me through each day. Everything I do, I put passion into, because that is what you taught me to do. That is what you would want me to do. Without passion, there is no meaning. Without positivity, there is no hope. Without resilience, there is no fight in the face of adversity. Without you, I would not have known this.
I will carry these life lessons in my heart forever and utilize them always. There are so many different words, and moments that can define our relationship. But I thought there was one in particular that could do it justice.
I remember when I was a little girl in pre-school at Twin Spring Farm. All the kids made a scrapbook dedicated to their fathers. Mine was about 20 pages long, each page colored differently with a photo or drawing on it, representing a moment we shared together. In fact, the cover photo of this article was the cover photo of that scrapbook.
A week ago, when you and I were packing up our apartment, it resurfaced. You picked up the scrapbook out of the drawer and looked at me intently. Your countenance was priceless as you were grinning from ear to ear. I'm not sure if you remember that because it was such a small moment in time, but it was pivotal. That scrapbook marked and closed the chapter on an indelible point in time for us back then. But this article marks the most significant point in time of our lives now. Moments, like these, are powerful. They hold meaning, purpose, an explanation to life. They possess something bigger than you and me. Moments define us, whether they are small or big. They are the makeup of our memories we cherish, and hold onto. We refer back to these memories when we get lost, because we found ourselves in them. I found myself in you, dad.
Because of you, life is easier to live. Life is radiant, because you give me light in the darkest of times. Because you give me love, when I need it the most.
Have you ever loved someone so much you couldn't imagine trying to find the words to describe them? Well, I think I did exactly that.
All my love,
Your Daughter.
