Dear Daddy,

This letter to you is probably long overdue. I promise it isn’t because I haven’t been appreciative of all that you’ve done up until this point. I just haven’t been able to articulate my gratitude for all this time. But I want to tell you thank you.

Thank you first of all for doing so much to provide for your family. There has never been a time when I have doubted that taking care of your family wasn’t your top priority. As I’m getting older and learning what it means to provide for myself, I am also learning about how hard it can be to provide for an entire family. You’ve always worked hard, and that’s something I’ve always admired about you.

Thank you for always taking care of us all the times that we’ve had to move. You were always the one that went ahead of us to make sure our new house was all in order, and then came back to us and helped us move everything to the new house. I know that we haven’t been quiet about our hatred for moving so often, but you’ve always done your best to stay positive throughout our moves. Though we didn’t realize it, I think this helped us to cope with the moves.

Thank you for loving God more than you love us. I’ve always been so proud to say that my dad is an army chaplain. I’ve always heard chaplains say that they’re so proud to serve both God and country. I think that even as the daughter of an army chaplain, I’ve had the privilege to serve both God and country myself. Thank you for teaching me how to do this.

Finally, thank you for all of the times you weren’t with us. More than once you moved without us to a new base, and I know it was never easy for you to be all by yourself. Also more than once you had to complete a deployment, and I know that was even harder than just being in a different state. I can’t even begin to fully fathom what that felt like for you, but I know that you didn’t take it lightly. We didn’t either. I’m thankful every day that you came back safely to us and that it’s possible for us all to be together.

There is so much more to thank you for, including stories about your deployments that haven’t even been told. I’m a proud army brat, and a proud daughter. I love you, Dad.