When I woke up this morning (Father's Day 2016), I was greeted by my dad who immediately asked me what I wanted for breakfast.

Think about that for a second.

Instead of kicking back, relaxing, and enjoying the coverage for the final day of the US Open, he was acting like today was simply an ordinary day on the calendar.

I could easily sit here and write 500+ words to express my thanks for my father, but as I sat in my chair eating my pancakes and occasionally glancing at my father sipping his morning roast, I couldn't help but think about those who don't have this--don't have a father to make them breakfast and stare expressionless yet ever so enthrallingly at a television screen displaying men swinging clubs at a stationary ball.

I don't know why your situation is the one in which you must live. Perhaps, your father left before you were born or shortly thereafter. Perhaps, your parents separated, and your mother or another family member assumed your full-time guardianship. Perhaps, your mother was an independent woman who wanted a child but not a boyfriend/husband, so she didn't conceive you in the typical manner. Perhaps, your father passed away. Or, perhaps, your situation is unique from those listed in this brief paragraph. However, despite how it happened, you--at one point or another--had to learn how to live without your dad.

Until recently, I never tried to put myself in your shoes. I never tried to understand from an emotional standpoint what it does to a person's mindset, and I certainly never tried to imagine what it would be like to go without the lessons my father has taught me throughout my life. Somehow, you had to gain the same knowledge as everyone else, having less from which to learn.

But, it doesn't have to immobilize you.

Yes, I never had to experience what it was like without my father, and I hope that I don't have to know the feeling for quite some time. But, I know those who have gone without for some or all of their lives.

One such person is my best friend who grew up less than a block away from me.

His grandfather became his father figure, along with being my adoptive second grandfather. And, eventually, another man came into his and his mother's lives and became an excellent father figure. A few weeks ago, this same best friend graduated from WVU with the intention of attending medical school in the near future.

He didn't let his situation stop him from aiming high in life.

And, that's just his situation. There are millions of other cases of success coming from fatherless upbringings across the world.

Use today as a way to thank your biological father for bringing you into the world and giving you the opportunity to make a name for yourself. Use today as a way to thank the family members who took the place of your father. Use today as a way to celebrate yourself.

Remember, don't let the cards you were dealt in life define you.