Dear Dad,

Where do I even start? From the moment, I was born you gave me a place to rest my head. You held me tight, laid me down on your chest and let the beating of your heart calm me down and sooth all my worries away. When winter came and my fuzzy onesie wasn’t enough, you would wrap me up in warm blankets and sing me lullabies until I fell asleep. You would read me stories and watch my silly TV shows and would play with my toys with me so I was never bored. And when I brought you the worst piece of art in the world, you looked at it as if it were the latest Picasso. You never failed to bring a smile to my face.

And as I got older you would support me through it all. Cheer me on as I learned to walk, helped me with my math and writing homework. And then once that was all done you would make me my chicken nuggets and fries and we would sit down and watch either Jimmy Neutron or the Justice League cartoon show. I still remember when we sat down to turn on Justice League and to our dismay it had been discontinued. That was one of the saddest moments of my life! But even without that we kept on finding new methods of entertainment. From playing with our pets to redecorating the house, we were always busy. And the life lessons you taught me are the ones I will keep with me forever and the ones I will instill in my children.

You showed me how to build a deck, use power tools, repaint the house, change the fluids in my car, do yard work, you taught me to be self-sufficient. You brought me with you when you bought cars and motorcycles so I learned how to get the best possible deal and never let anyone hustle me. Dad, you brought me to your work and told me how to act in job interviews and with coworkers to make sure I always rose in the ranks and never stayed where I didn’t belong. You taught me some of my best people skills and encouraged me that it wasn’t always about book knowledge and GPA numbers that got you to good places in life, it was how you presented yourself and how you talked to others that could get you the farthest in life. You showed me my value is so much more than any signed piece of paper. You taught me to have nothing less than the best for myself, from jobs to relationships. You have been one of my biggest supporters and someone I can always count on.

I don’t know what I would do without you, Dad. You have brought me my biggest smiles and my biggest triumphs. You have made me into the woman I am today. I couldn’t take on this crazy thing called life without you Dad. Thank you for always being someone I can rest my weary head on. And now you are the one who always encourages me to get back up and never stop.