Dear Dad,

I just wanted to start off by saying that not a day goes by where I do not think about you. Although somedays I still have trouble coping with losing you, I now often find my days smiling when I think about you.

I always find myself saying that you should be here, especially when I am reaching big turning points in my life like graduating high school and my first move in day of college. Even though I say I wish you could be here, a part of me knows that you are there experiencing it all with me.

I wish I could call you on your birthday, or even when something good is happening in my life. You're still one of the first people I want to call and tell the good news to. I still find myself picking up the phone and dialing your number.

Those days are the tough days for me--the ones I miss you the most. Some days are better than others. I could find something that reminds me of you and I am right back where I started. I always find myself going under my bed to the box of photos I have of us and looking at them for hours. All of it helped me learn that you're going to have bad days and that's okay. No matter how much time has gone by you still need days to grieve, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

You may not know this but you have taught me many life lessons. You taught me how to be strong and to believe in myself when all I want to do is give up. And because of that I have reached so many goals already and I have no one to thank but you.

I hope you are seeing all that I am accomplishing in life and I hope you are watching over me and you are proud. That's all I ever want to do is make you proud every single day. I always think about what I would say to you if I got one more chance. I'd say I love you because I didn't get a chance to say it.

This letter is for you to know that I think about you every day. That I love and miss you as each day passes. Everyone misses you and your sarcasm, especially me. Keep watching over me up there.

With love,

Your little girl who misses you.