Dear Dad,
Wow, do I feel sorry for you. No seriously, I genuinely feel remorse for fathers who had to somehow raise daughters in the last 30 years. I'm sure raising a son has its challenges as well, but the world is a mean place to be a young woman. So, from a young woman who had an amazing father, thank you.
Thank you for teaching me all the words to every John Mellencamp song, ever. Thank you for letting me sit on your shoulders when I was too short to see. Thank you for sitting for two hours while I spent your money in the Disney Store, then The Limited Too, then Hollister. Thank you for hanging in there while I developed better taste in clothing. Thank you for not running off the boys I really liked for a week or two, and for running off the boys that I didn't. Thank you for showing me how I should be treated, and teaching me never to settle for less than that.
Thank you for the good advice. Thank you for the terrible advice. Thank you for being like a second dad to all of my friends. Thank you for understanding that between the ages of 12 and 17 I absolutely did not want to be seen with you in public because you were soooooo embarrassing.
Thank you for being embarrassing. Thank you for making me laugh, and for trying to make me laugh when your jokes were just. not. funny. Thank you for rolling your eyes behind mom's back when she tells me to eat like a lady (sorry, Ma). Thank you for buying me my first beer, and for laughing in my face the day after my 21st birthday. I'm sorry you and mom had to see that, but thanks for bringing me food anyways.
When I was a kid, you always told me I could do anything I wanted to do. At the time, that meant being a cast member on "Baywatch," a marine biologist (because I loved dolphins) and an artist at the same time. For a while, it was because I had no idea what I wanted to do at all. Now it's because I want to pursue my dream career. It's going to be hard, and I am terrified to do it, but you have never told me that anything was too hard or too scary or too big for me to accomplish. Thank you for that, Dad.
I am graduating and heading to law school in a few months, and I know that has a lot to do with you. You are the hardest working person I know, and you taught me that nobody gets anywhere in life by sitting and waiting for it to be handed to them. It certainly wasn't easy to raise someone as stubborn as I am, so thank you for trying your best. Thank you for never having stopped calling me your little girl.
Sincerely,
Your Little Girl
