Dear Dad,

I don’t even know where to start.

There is no way I could possibly thank you for everything you’ve done for my siblings and me, or put into words how much you mean to me, but I’m going to try.

I remember when I was about six years old, laying in bed terrified of anything and everything that could happen to me, but you placed a ‘magic cape’ on me and promised that nothing could hurt me now.

You’ve never stopped protecting me, you’ve never stopped making sure that the three of us have everything and more we could ever need to feel safe.

Anything from a flat tire to a full REI survival kit in the kitchen crawl space, you’ve got us covered.

But more than just physical safety, you would never let anyone hurt our hearts.

Even though mom tends to take the lead on all boy problems (thanks mom) you’re always there, without fail, telling us that he’s not good enough anyway.

You’ve taught me that when a boy loves you, like really loves you, he’ll stick around no matter what.

And you’ve shown us that.

You never gave up on us.

There was never a moment where you didn’t support us. I could have told you I wanted to be a pirate and you probably would’ve looked at me and said something along the lines of “well as long as you don’t mind losing a couple teeth, you’ll be perfect.” or really any other dad joke you could come up with on the spot.

Thank you for driving me to gymnastics, ballet, cheer, tumbling, soccer and whatever hobby I decided to pick up for a couple months.

I know its been hard, and at times you had to work jobs you hated to make sure that we could do anything we dreamt of. To make sure we could go to the best schools, and try all the sports we wanted to.You never wanted us to worry, or go without something.

I might not have thanked you enough for that, but please know how grateful I am and how you showed me that nothing will take you further than being kind and working hard.

You’ve never been selfish, you’ve always given everything for the four of us and we love you more than we can even explain.

Even though you give us so much, you never stopped pushing us to earn things by ourselves. Whether that is to stick with something longer, to stand up for ourselves, to leave our comfort zones behind or to work as hard as we possibly can to be the best at any job we have.

You taught me how to work hard no matter the outcome, and how giving up is not an option. You never let me give up on something that really matters, or let fear get the best of me.

You always pushed me away from my fears. You’ve always been my adventure buddy. The one who will listen to every camping story I have (mostly because you forced me to go on the trips). I can tell you I want to go white water rafting through the Grand Canyon and your eyes light up and immediately you begin planning the trip.

We’ve been sailing, zip lining, cliff jumping, skiing, wave-boarding, and built so many fires that at this point, I could probably survive in the wilderness. You even got me on a mountain bike a couple of times.

We’ve eaten endless burritos together, listened to The 1975 full blast in the car, and watched Star Wars over and over (it still counts even when you fall asleep 5 minutes in).

There is no way I could have gotten a better dad than you and I never would have wanted anyone else.

So dad, thank you for just being you.

Love,

Your daughter.