Dear Dad,

From my first memories, you have been by my side for every moment. Good and bad, you’ve been with me, as my supporter, my coach, my friend and, of course, as my bodyguard.

Thank you for always hugging me when you came home from work when I was younger, and when I’m back home from college, too. Thank you for getting down on the carpet and playing with me and my siblings when we were young, even if it was a game you were clearly not interested in playing or even if you had worked all day. Thank you for making our family so close and teaching us the importance of each other. Thank you for loving mom so much.

Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for always acknowledging when I did well in school. Thank you for coming to my games, my award dinners and all of my senior events. Thank you for encouraging me to do well in everything I pursued. Thank you for helping me get to college and get through college. Thank you for asking me about my day. Thank you for teaching me how to work: wholeheartedly and diligently.

Thank you for being so protective of me. Thank you for intimidating all of my boy friends and, later, my boyfriends. Thanks for having instincts about the people I was around and letting me know when I was in for trouble. Even if I didn’t appreciate it at that time, I appreciate it now. Thank you for always caring about what I was doing and with whom. Thank you for teaching me I was special and I deserved good things.

Thank you for trusting me. Sure, we have gone through patches of fighting when I didn’t understand your rules, but now that I understand your reasoning, I respect all the guidelines you have put in place. Thank you for trusting me to make my own decisions, my own mistakes and learn my own lessons. Thank you for also teaching me lessons in advance from your experiences. You have so much to teach me, and I will be forever learning from you and your life.

Thank you for inspiring me. Because of you, I appreciate music similarly to how you do. Because of you, I work hard every day in whatever I do. Because of you, I never gave up when I thought everything was going against me. Thank you for never giving up on me.

Thank you for all of the work you’ve put in to make my life so great. Thank you for all the effort, the love, the time and the conversation. In my 19 years, we have gotten close and I have learned so much from you. You lead not only in verbal structure but by example, and I am grateful to have you as my dad every single day. If I could, I would never change a thing about you. Thank you for all you do, dad.

Love,

Your daughter