Dear Dad,

There is no good way to start this letter, no good enough or amount of words exist in the world could ever explain all you’ve done for me. Everyone can have a father but not everyone can have a dad is what they say but my brother and I understand that better than anyone because we were adopted by you. Blood will never mean anything to us because of the special story God has written for us so perfectly. We were two kids whose birth parents could not raise us, nobody knows why but I promise we don’t care enough to ask because we have a dad who raised us in the most beautiful way. You taught me a hundred lessons and the lessons are still being taught, you make me laugh when all I want to do is cry and you hug me more than anyone’s dad in the world combined; I’m sure of it. You give love and warmth when the world tries to make you cold and numb and by doing all these things, I have learned what true unconditional love means, you define it better than any dictionary could. Like I said before, there’s not any good enough or amount of words to explain how wonderful you are and what you’ve given me.

Not everyone gets the amazing blessing to understand the honest concept of unconditional love and the sacrifice that comes with it. I will never forget all those Friday and Saturday nights in the kitchen just questioning and talking about life because none of my friends were around. I always complained because I felt so lonely but little did I realize until now the loneliness you must have felt because you sacrificed your own time with friends and even finding love so you had time to love my brother and I. There was nothing that you didn’t support if it was something I really loved. There was no basketball game you didn’t go to, in fact, you volunteered to be an assistant coach for my CYO team because they desperately needed one. You never told us your struggles and let us sign up for any activity we wanted to be a part of. You suffered silently and loved loudly. You always go more than the extra mile to give us what we want even if it means it will be a little harder on you.

You made our lives as easy as you could growing up, you always cooked dinner, cleaned the dishes, washed the laundry and did yardwork and never did you once complain or ask us to help even though there were times we should have helped more. All you wanted for us was comfort and happiness. You never said no to our wants unless there was a solid reason. I remember I would get mad if you didn’t drive me to my friend’s house who lived about 10 minutes away because you didn’t feel like driving after a long day, oh how that angered me but now that I drive, there are times I don’t even want to drive 5 minutes away. It’s funny how the tables turn when you grow up. I remember my tantrums and how you just sat there and patiently allowed me to scream about my frustrations and no matter how bad got, you would come over and hug me.

Truth is, I don’t deserve a dad like you but somehow God has given me that gift anyway. This letter seems so awfully written because there is just so many things to say and this letter will become a book soon haha, so I end it by saying I love you so dad and I thank you for absolutely everything. I find so much of you in me and that’s something I will forever smile about and I believe love will forever reign over hate because of you.

Love,

Your blessed and grateful daughter