Dear Daddy,

Happy birthday!

There are so many things that I love about you, and so many things that I'm grateful for. I'm sure I've told you plenty of times, but I want you to see in writing so that you know it's really true.

You have the best sense of humor. You're comical, messing with us any chance that you get. You're outgoing with your jokes. You were the one who teased us when we were babies. Instead of sending us to bed, you'd tape us falling asleep with our mouths open or sipping on our sippy cups with our eyes rolling to the back of our heads. Today, you stick things up our noses or in our ears to wake us up early on an eventful day. It works. I remember one particular day. I came home from school; you were hiding around the corner in the hallway. I came through and you scared me half to death. You were laughing hilariously. You really loved to mess with people, and you still love doing it. I can always count on you to make me feel better. It's the little things.

You're a great coach and teacher. I've never known someone so passionate about sports. You wanted to coach the sports teams that we joined as kids. I remember you were my tee ball coach, and you followed all the way to minor league softball. Today, you're still coaching hockey, even when the boys are too old to play anymore. Learning to love the game is what you enjoy doing. You don't coach only for sports; you coach us to be the best we can be in real life and the real world. You encourage me to never give up and to work really hard for what I want. You used to say that in order to get what we want, we have to earn it. I appreciated that when I was little, and I appreciate it now.

You're super protective. Some girls don't like this, but I'm not one of those girls. I'm so super thankful to have an overprotective father. If you were careless, I think I'd be scared. But you're not, so I don't have to be afraid. Also, even with my boyfriend, you send out your warnings that you don't want to see me get hurt. Even though I'm almost 20, yes: I'm still your little girl.

You help me "adult". With this one, I literally cannot live without you. You give the best advice when it comes to school, taxes, bank help, car troubles; you name it. You help me out with a lot of things and I don't know if I have enough time in the world to ever repay you. Without you, I wouldn't really know what to do.

You're my hero. There are not enough words in the world to describe how heroic you are. You're so brave, and nothing really scares you. At least... you are good at not showing it, if that. Your strength is immaculate. You just won two life saving awards for doing your job. You do what you do best: you help and you save. I look up to you for that, and I am so proud to be your daughter. Thank you for everything, but especially for being my hero.

I hope this made you smile, because I smiled a lot writing this; and I figured you would like it. Sometimes, I don't show how much I appreciate you and your hard work. I know it can be hard, especially from what's happened recently. But I really don't take you for granted. I am where I am, because of you. You motivated me to follow my dreams and be the best I can be.

Thank you for everything. I love you, and happy birthday (again).

Love,

Your daughter