Dear Dad,

Thank you. Thank you for doing your best to raise me...and my younger sister, Zoe...and I guess my two older brothers too, but I'm the one writing the letter so mostly thank you for me. I'm sure we didn't always make it easy for you, but you stuck with us through all of the temper tantrums and teenage angst. I'm sure there was plenty to go around.

And now that your youngest is getting ready to go to college, do you know what that means? It means you won! You did it! Congratulations! For the better part of two decades you've been bombarded daily with dumb questions, selfish demands, and the incessant call of "I'm hungry!" And you'd meet those dumb questions with dumb answers, you'd stop those selfish demands with lessons on compassion and empathy, and you'd greet those calls of "I'm hungry" with a smile and the words, "Hi Hungry, I'm Dad."

So it's June 19 as I'm writing this: Father's Day. A day where we all stop to appreciate our fathers and buy them ties that they won't wear. I'd offer you breakfast in bed, but we both know you get up way earlier than I do, and I'm not much of a cook. I don't have much in the way of money, so I can't really buy you gifts, although it's not like I've ever been an expert gift giver. All of that went to Zoe.

So all I can really do is offer you thanks for all of the love and support you've offered through the years (like, a crazy amount of support; I said I wanted to be a theater major and you didn't even blink; now that's impressive) and promise to give it back when you need it.

I know it wasn't easy for you to come out to us as transgender. I'm sure you must have been at least a little worried about being met with rejection or fear, but that's not the way you raised us. Our family loves and supports you, just as you've always done for us. You'll always be my dad.

Happy Father's Day!