Dear Daddio,
Raising me wasn't easy. Trust me I know me better than I know myself. But hey so far you're doing a great job if I do say so myself! Then again, raising me may have been the easy part. The harder part was letting me go off to college to chase my dreams and find my place in life.
Starting from when I was a baby when you brought Katie to meet me. I saw the video and laughed the whole time. You held her up so she could see me and told her which one I was and that I was her sister. Katie looked much less than thrilled (little did she know we'd actually be best friends but that's not what this is about) and crossed her arms pouting. That's when you were put into your first situation of sibling rivalry. You asked her what was wrong, expecting her to say something along the lines of wanting to be an only child again. She responded with (Katie, don't kill me) "I don't want her to touch my special dolly." You swallowed back a chuckle and said: "we'll put her up on a shelf." Katie responded with something along the lines of "Okay now we can keep her".
Your mother passed away right after I was born. I like to think of it as she didn't pass away, she passed me on the way to heaven. There will always be a little bit of guilt in me that you were with me at this time instead of with her but we all know that she would have kicked your butt all the way back to Columbus from Jersey if you did. I still wish I could have met her.
Later, I was sick (understatement) in the hospital with no idea if I would survive. I don't remember any of it and I am very glad but I know you remember every single moment. With every procedure, every moment you were there (so was mom but this isn't about her this time). While still taking care of Katie, and Mom, you were still there for me. I couldn't imagine having to watch my baby go through that and hope I never have to.
Those are all things I have been told or saw on the video, nothing that I remember. What I do remember though can be summed up with three words, wisdom, laughter, and love.
Every audition, competition and performance I had you always said the same thing. "You've worked hard and I'm proud of you. Go do your thing" and then you sent me in with a hug and a kiss on the forehead. I'd come out and you'd say "how'd ya do?" and I'd list out all the things that went wrong. When the acceptance letters and positive comments would come back, you'd laugh and tell me "I told ya so". Unfortunately, you weren't able to be there when I auditioned for the music program at BGSU (aka the biggest audition of my life to date) but you were the last call I made before it and the first one after it. Thank you for always being there and supporting me.
I'd be having a rough week at school and I would get emails from you with funny dog pictures and it made all the difference.
Speaking of dog, remember when we ate those dog biscuits and Roxie looked appalled because we ate her treats and forgot to give her one? Good times.
The best gift I ever gave you sums it up, dad. (For the viewers at home it's a sweatshirt that says "I'm a proud owner of a freaking awesome daughter... yes Bethany bought me this). I'm a pain in the butt and you go along with it.
You've worn many hats throughout our father-daughter relationship, from being a soccer coach, to teaching me how to ride a bike, to holding the podium when I was drum major, Daddio you've always been there. I cannot imagine my life without you and I'm glad that you're always only a phone call away. Thank you for being my dad and for not making too much fun of me when I picked out my credit card (it had a puppy on it)
Love from,
Bethany (Also thanks for my last name! It's cool!) Savarese
