Dad,

I remember the day we met. It was pretty awkward at first. It was the first time I had gone to mom's house after her divorce, and I had known for a while that you guys moved in together recently and was settling down. Mom didn't tell me much about you in the beginning. Perhaps it was because the divorce was still fresh and she had already emotionally moved on from her relationship with my real dad years ago and didn't know how to explain that to me. My real dad did not know you and never interacted with you, but for some reason, he would always speak bad of you to me. Me, being 14 and still handling the emotional stress of the divorce, didn't know better. A part of me started to believe what I was told about you from my real dad. When I started getting to know you better, I realized how far that was from the truth. I am upset that I was told the complete opposite.

I have only known you for a little over 4 years. Our relationship is unique because you came in my life when I was well into my later teen years. I was 15 when I met you, and now I'm 20. It was harder for us to bond mostly because I didn't get to see you everyday until I moved in with you and mom as a senior in high school. You also spent a majority of your time working, and I spent the majority of my time in school and working on my college apps. We didn't really get to experience much of the dad/daughter things we would have if I met you at a younger age, like getting picked up from you at school, having movie dates, or eating out without mom. This didn't matter though - you showed me love, affection, and support in different ways.

When I was having a bad day the summer before my first year of college, you called me up even though you were still at work. To me, that meant a lot. We formed our own memories through the many late night talks we had with and without mom after dinner, going biking at Santa Monica on the weekends, and surprising me with my very first car two years ago. I still remember the big and little things, like the time we spontaneously drove up to San Francisco, or the first time I rode a plane when we vacationed in Hawaii last year at this exact time. You even got me flowers for Valentine's Day, and jokingly told me that that would be my future boyfriend's duty. You shower me with gifts, love, and support when my real dad isn't there to do the same.

Thank you for loving me and seeing me as your own daughter, even though I feel like I haven't done much for you (yet). Thank you for being the husband of my mom's dream. Thank you for loving her and treating her the way she deserves to when my real dad couldn't. Thank you for loving our siblings and family, and for being a kind and well-rounded person. I have learned so much about the true meaning of love and relationships during the past few years just by your own words and actions. You carry the same traits I hope to find in my future husband. And even through your flaws and arguments with mom, I see the true image of you right through you. Thank you for choosing to stick with us, through thick and thin. I don't say this enough, but I love you dad.

I don't say this enough, but I love you dad. So much.