When people think of heroes: capes, spandex and super powers come to mind; however, when I think of a hero, I think of my dad.

As far back as I could remember, I always wanted to be like him.

Whatever he did, I wanted to do. Whatever I didn't want to do, he would push me to do it.

Whenever I wanted to quit, he was the voice in the back of my head telling me to keep going. For that, I thank you.

He was the one who took me on my first backpacking trip. He was the one who took me on my last backpacking trip.

The conditions on that last trip couldn't have been worse; blistering heat in the day, buckets of rain at night. Every night.

I'll never forget that last day, 15 miles downhill on loose gravel, having to stop for water to keep us from dying. As much as I might have hated parts of that trip, I was glad I did it.

I am glad for a lot of things in my life, but having you as a dad might be one of the things I am most proud of.

Putting yourself through school, passing the BAR exam your first try, working your a** off to put food on the table and clothes on our backs. For that, I thank you.

Doing all you could to make sure your kin never wanted anything, giving us the life everyone dreams of.

For being the hard a** as well as the joker, for putting up with my buds who are midnight tokers. For putting up with my sarcasm, even if it led to a spasm.

For that, and everything you do, and everything you will do, I thank you.

To the man I emulate, my hero, my father; I love you, and I always will.