One of the most important lessons you can learn is to appreciate the little things life has to offer. This Father’s Day I want to thank my dad for helping teach me this lesson. Dad, if you're reading this just remember that you are my hero and I couldn't be more grateful for you and everything you do for me.

Have you ever experienced a moment that changed the course of your hour, your day or maybe even your life? To everyone else involved in this moment they could forget about it in a heartbeat. But to you, to you this moment changes everything. Personally, I call them sailboat moments. A moment that stays with you forever and that leaves a permanent feeling of bliss with you. This feeling of happiness is etched into your being and helps define you.

The day I was able to name this phenomenon was a windy summer day during the summer before my freshman year of high school. This day was one of those days where absolutely nothing was going my way. As entitled as that sounds, quite literally nothing was going my way. It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I was miserable, more miserable than I had ever been. Looking back, I still consider this day my rock bottom. I still have my diary page saved from this day and I read it whenever I need to be reminded things really could be a whole lot worse. I will not bore the readers with the gruesome details but rather I’ll explain where the light shone through.

My dad, an amazing and wonderful man, has never been the type to be nosy. He doesn’t have to ask a million questions to figure out what I’m thinking. Since I still attempt to get away with mischievous acts I like to believe he doesn’t know me as well as we both know he does. We are strangely in-sync and I love that about my dad. At some points it feels like that’s why it is so easy for him to save the day.

On this summer day, he did exactly that. Save the day. I was hiding in a little corner of the lake, amidst trees and bushes, sitting on a small hand-made bench simply looking over the water. The only way to see this piece of paradise from our dock is to stand just at the end of it and look at what would be your four o’clock. Nobody knew that this was my special place, because what is a special place if everyone knows about it? It is then just a place. Anyway, I digress. As I was sitting there, slowly adding new fresh water drops to the lake while looking at my own reflection in the water, my dad walked onto our dock. Sure enough, he walked right to the end of the dock and he happened to look to his four o’clock. I had not seen my dad all day-- I suspected he had been working at the barn or maybe he took the day off to go golfing. To this day, I still do not know what drove him to come home earlier than usual, maybe again it is simply because we are so in sync. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it and it is as a simple as he decided to only do the first 9 rather than the full 18 holes. Who knows, I guess that is the beauty of fate. Again, I digress. He was wearing swim trunks and a beat up green polo shirt, but when I saw him he could have been a superhero in a cape, sweeping in to save the day yet again.

I assumed he couldn’t see me. “Hey A, wanna go for a sail? The wind is perfect, c’mon, just me and you?” I was reluctant but he and I both know I can’t resist a good sailing day nor could I resist the idea of just getting away from everyone and every thing. My hideaway had already been spoiled so, why not? I stood up, wiping the tears from my face as I walked towards the boat, my dad already raising the red white and blue sail.

Long story short, this no doubt was this the best sailing I had ever experienced. The boat was gliding across the water at racing speed and my dad was making me laugh until my stomach hurt. He did not know how low I had been to start the day, but he brought me to feel higher than I had in a long while. From here on out on days where I am surprised, whether it be by someone else or by myself, with happiness I call it a sailboat moment. Going from so low to so high taught me to take chances and never take life or opportunities for granted. I just want to say thank you, Dad. You introduced me to sailboat moments and sailboat moments change my life. This day may not even remotely stick in your memory, it may just be another day but to me it was everything. Dad, if you’re reading this I’m sorry that this is the first time you’re hearing this story, I guess I never really found the words to say thank you. Honestly I just want you to know that five years later it still means the world to me.

Thank you, Happy Father's Day.