Dad, I truly do not know how you do it. You are the most selfless person I know and now that I am older, I am beginning to see how much you have sacrificed for our family. Coming home from college and having a sense of how hard you work, how often you work, and how motivated you are to give our family the things we have has made me appreciate you on a whole new level. You have truly given me the world and I could never thank you enough.

You’ve taught me to appreciate what we have and make the most of what life throws at us. Raising three girls could not have been easy and I know how much pressure you felt to raise us to be respectful, polite, and independent young ladies. I hope you know you did a great job.

You encouraged us to play sports which taught us diligence, perseverance, teamwork, and passion. You never made me feel that sports were the only important thing in life and you knew, just as well as I did, that there was more to life than the sport I was playing. You put your heart and soul into our teams and in all of my 13 years of playing, I can count on one hand the number of games you missed. You taught me to love the game, but to never let the game come before the things that truly matter.

When I was in a slump, you didn’t drag me down, you simply told me it was part of the game and were always there when I wanted to get a few extra reps in. You didn’t force me to play, but you were going to be my biggest supporter when I decided I wanted to. Driving home from practices and listening to the radio on full blast as we sang in your big van was my favorite thing to do. As I got older and began driving myself to and from practices, I realized how much those little car rides meant to me.

Thank you for the little things that you do without thinking twice. Thank you for coming in my room at midnight to kill a spider on my ceiling. Thank you for always opening the door for me, no matter what the circumstance. Thank you for warming up my car before I go to school and for making an extra cup of coffee whenever I come home. Thank you for holding all of our bags when we go shopping, and being understanding when I come home with two flat tires. I have always taken the little things for granted and I want you to know how much they mean to me.

If there is one thing I hope you know, it’s that finding a husband comparable to you will be impossible.You have set my standards high and the love you have for Mom has set an example for the type of relationship I could only dream of having. There is no man out there who could ever live up to the man you are in my life and I hope you know that I love you beyond words.

You are the best dad a little girl could ask for and the best friend anyone could ever have.

Love you so much,

Your daughter