A lot of the articles that I write are humorous, you can almost hear my sarcastic voice talking to you when you read through them. However, a common trend that you'll see with my articles is I mention my family a lot. I was raised in a very tight-knit Greek household, and family always comes first. I always find myself looking back at my childhood and laughing at all the good memories that I have.

More recently, however, I find myself looking back at memories that I have with my father. Maybe it's because I'm reaching that stage in life where I'm transitioning to a young man and finding my place in the world, but I think about my father a lot. My father is turning 51 this year, and while I can't afford to get him the things I would like to, I thought a letter would be the next best thing. So, Dad, this is for you.

There's a common saying that a father is his son's first superhero. In my opinion, you were better than any character I read about in a comic book Dad.

Just watching you do the little things like getting ready for work in the morning or pack your suitcase for a business trip was better than watching Batman beat up the Joker.

You were always there to coach my soccer team or cheer in the stands at my baseball games, you were there. And that's all that matters. When I sucked at baseball, and I mean really sucked; you helped me practice when you could, and those are honestly some of my favorites memories of us.

We were never rich growing up, but you always made sure your kids were provided for. You tried to give us everything we wanted and you always made sure we had what we needed. I'll never forget being 13 years and talking your ear off for days about how Eminem was going to be at Lollapalooza and how bad I wanted to see him, and how excited I got when you surprised me with the tickets to go see him. You endured the mud, the heat, and the craziness of being in a sea of drunk teenagers just so I could see my favorite rapper perform. And I'm always going to be grateful for that.

No one's perfect Dad, and you've made your share of mistakes, but you owned them and made yourself a better person because of them. I always tell my friends that you're one of my biggest inspirations because you've bounced back from every bad situation. I love the times we joke around, but I honestly appreciate our serious conversations more than those.

You've taught me things about life that only a father can teach his son, and you've taught me that the only thing a man has in this life is his integrity, and even if you mess up, you own it. The times that you've stayed on the phone with me and let me vent about my problems or have given me advice on a million things mean the world to me.

Dad, I don't think I can fit everything I want to say to you in one article, but I want to say one more thing before I end this. Thank you. Thank you for never giving up on me, even when I gave you a million reasons to give up on me. Thank you for the years of hard work you and mom have put in to make sure that we had a roof over our heads. Thank you for not playing Disney radio in the car and exposing Natasia and I to actually good music, and overall, thank you for being you. I love you Dad, happy birthday!