As my high school career nears its end, my baby photo albums are being brought out once more to be displayed at my graduation party. Looking at the ones of you and me, I noticed all those wrinkles under your eyes from me keeping you and mom up all night. Yet through the wrinkles, a look of wonder and pure joy was shown in your smile. You held my tiny eight pound body in those large and very hairy arms, protecting me. Happy you were able to see your little girl smile back at you for the first time.

It's photos like these that make me grateful you are my dad. I now realize how difficult it is to keep a letter like this from being cheesy, so I apologize in advance.

To one awesome dad,

If I were to tell you what your best qualities were, I would start out by saying that you are one manly person. You don't take crap from anyone, if you start something you finish it, and you are physically the strongest middle aged man I know. Seriously though, you're so strong it's scary, and my friends bring it up every time they see you.

I am proud to call you my father as I hope you are proud to call me your daughter. You have taught me how to be a strong person both mentally and physically. You and mom were the main reason I started to care about my health, which soon led me to discover this cool thing called working out. My fitness has made slow progress, but it's progress that you helped create.

You go on three to four day trips to Ohio every other week to bring the family money. It's so cool knowing that you run your own company, showing yet again your qualities of strength, leadership, and logical thinking. Plus you make bank on those trips, which is also nice.

Unfortunately, you didn't pass down your mathematical skills to me. That's okay, I forgive you (but if I don't pass my college math class, you know who I'm blaming). However, you did teach me a thing or two about life. You taught me the meaning of independence, never to back down from a task, and to keep holding on to whatever it is that I'm trying to achieve no matter what obstacle is thrown at me.

Thank you for your amazing craftsmanship. You helped me with my rocket project (which was a failure but it still looked great). You basically worked on my entire catapult project for physics class, upon which the catapult received immense praise from my peers and I claimed it was my dad's "German engineering".

You also renovated an entire house for my brother and I to live in. I can certainly say that no one else my age has their own FREE house, and I will be forever grateful that I am the one lone person who does.

On top of all the amazing qualities mentioned earlier, you are a very hilarious man. Watching you annoy my mom until she almost smacks you, wrestling my brother for a spot on the couch, wrestling ME for a spot on the couch are but a few of the many laughs you bring to our household.

Without you in my life, I honestly believe I would find it harder to stand up for myself. You and mom are the toughest people I know. You two have been going through some stressful times these past few months, but you still somehow manage to pull through. I often wonder how you do it; how do you make it through that much crap and still come out smiling in the end? I admire what you do every day and want to grow up to be just like you.

I love you, dad. Happy Father's Day.