To My Concerned Dad,

You are one of my backbones. The kind of backbone that lifts me up throughout my moments of despairs, as well as keeps me motivated throughout my success. When I think of someone who has my best interest at heart, the definition of that phrase is “Dad.”

And whenever I do think about that definition, I reflect upon how much you worry about me through that interest and how that will never change.

You follow under that category of concerned, just like many other dads would with their kids away at college. You worry about how I’m doing mentally, socially, physically, and academically, the kind of worry that is essential to your daily life.

I know whenever something upsetting happens to me, you worry, probably more than you need to because I am just a dramatic person. When I haven’t communicated with you and mom in a while (which never really happens), I know that a piece of you worries.

More than anything, I want to thank you for being worried. Sure, I may feel like you worry about me too much, but who am I have an opinion? Worrying about your kids is a part of how you go throughout your day, and I consider myself lucky to has a parent who worries too much instead of not worrying at all. But something that you should know is, your act of worrying is an act that has been strongly passed on to me.

Truthfully, I know that I worry just as much as you, if not more. I worry about every single aspect of my life, and growing up, you were the kind of person who worried about the many aspects of our family’s life.

From our financial or emotional status, your worries are what motivated you to create the best possible life for that family that you have today. And even now, I know you still worry about those things, and guess what, me too.

Now that I’m older, you know that I have my own list of crap that I worry about, some of which you see as absurd and unrealistic, which is highly true. After seeing that you’re a parent who will worry, I’ve learned that, as your daughter who worries too much for her own good, you are the person I can turn to with my greatest worries and are the person that I know wouldn’t judge me for any of them.

Your worries are real, and in no way am I trying to make you feel bad or guilty for having them. All in all, you just want me to be happy and are upset when I’m unhappy, which I never really thought about. I never really thought about how much your children’s happiness means to you as a parent, and I probably never will until I have children of my own.

And because of that, I want you to please keep worrying about me, and I’ll promise not to get so annoyed when you do so. In who knows how many years from now, I hope to be at least half of the concerned and loving parent that my sixty-eight-year-old dad is today.

All my love,

Your worry-wart of a daughter