I am sorry that I don’t call enough. I know that I should call you more, but I never seem to get around to it as often as I would like. I am certain that I will never be able to express how thankful I am for everything you have done for me. You have not only been a great dad but a great role model as well. Your dedication to our family is something I hope to able to accomplish when my turn comes to have one. You have never once ignored me or made me feel small. You have always given me the benefit of the doubt, and I can’t think of a time when you didn’t support my decisions, even when they took me away from you.

You always encouraged my desire to travel and explore, and you never asked me to stop doing something I loved. You always tell me to pursue my dreams, and actively help me to reach them. Your constant support is one of the few things that reinforces my decisions when I have doubts about the path I have chosen in life. You have never told me that I could not or should not go somewhere, even when those places were far away from home; even when those places became my second home. I’m not sure if you realize how hard it is for me to leave because it is. Every time I leave home something rips inside of me, but that piece is always repaired when I accomplish what I set out to do knowing that you supported me every step of the way

It is by no means easy for me to leave home; to leave you. I know I don’t tell you enough how much I love and appreciate you, but the amount of support you give me when I choose to live a life away from the place I grew up never fails to amaze me; and who knows? Maybe, in the end, I’ll end up back home. Maybe you end up joining me somewhere new. All I know right now is that the support you give me when I not only choose to spend not only my school year several states away, now my summer even farther away than that is truly humbling. I don't think that I will ever know what I did to deserve your constant love and support, but I am thankful every day that I have it.

The example you set as a father is one that should set standards everywhere. I promise to do my best to make you proud. I promise to try and prove to you that your support and encouragement did not and will not go to waste. I will spend every day trying to convince you that your daughter is the girl you make me out to be; if that is the only thing I accomplish in life, it will be more than enough.

Thank you for being you. Thank you for believing in me; I will do my best to prove that I deserve it. Lastly, thank you for loving me.

I love you too.