To my dad,

Tommy, Tom, Wildfire, Fire, Fire, Firetruck, Truck.

We can’t walk down the street together without someone calling you one of those names. But, I’m the luckiest person in the world because I get to call you Dad. You have all these nicknames and these nicknames come from many stages of your life. Whether you want to believe it or not, these nicknames represent the impact you have had on so many people. Your presence is a beautiful presence that no one else has. You have the ability to light up a room and say all the right things to anyone.

People come up to me and say how amazing my dad is, and I really can’t do anything but smile because you are my dad. You are my best friend and I am so so lucky. From the time I was a little kid, we have done everything together and you have always been there for me.

I think the one memory I will cherish the most is all of the football games we have watched together and I can not wait to watch more together. I’m not sure if you wanted your first child to be a boy, but I can not thank you enough for taking me to all of those random high school football games and teaching me to love the packers. To this day, I know more about football than most boys I meet and I have you to thank for that. I promise to never let this knowledge of football slip away from me.

Thank you for being the one person that shares my sense of adventure. Thank you for understanding that movies aren’t the best. Thank you for never wanting to sit still and always finding something to do. Most importantly, thank you for giving me everything that I have and making sure that I have everything that I need.

No matter what, you always made sure that I had everything I needed. I know this wasn’t always easy, but somehow you always made it work.

You taught me that you don’t always have to have the most money or be the most popular, but what matters most is what’s on the inside. You taught me the importance of being yourself. And no matter how hard being myself became for me at times, you were always there.

Through you I learned that no matter how bad of a day you are having, you should still say hi to that person walking down the street. Because, maybe, just maybe you will make their day.

I’m in college now and I know we aren’t supposed to see each other every day, but I will never pass up that opportunity to have lunch with you and I know you will always drop off that one “pen” I left in your car.

I love you forever,

Your daughter