I don't know where to start. Thank you for being the man I look up to everyday. Thank you for the times when I was younger and I was afraid of falling asleep because I thought the monsters would attack me, you would calmly say, "It's okay buddy, just close your eyes and go to sleep."

Thank you for teaching me to respect other people and how we should always, "Kill them with kindness." Although I am not necessarily a people person, you are. And your energetic welcome at family dinners resonates throughout the whole house. Thank you for being the kind and loving man to me that I hope I can be to my children someday.

You are the kind of man who stands up for what he believes in even if that means you are the minority. Throughout this past election season, you were slow to mention your candidate. Even though we disagree on policy we still love and appreciate one another. You and Mom both love each other with all your heart, even if that means annoying each other. Even when you two have arguing episodes, you can't seem to live without the other.

I remember when I was younger telling my classmates that my dad was adopted. I didn't think anything of it, I just remember thinking it was cool. I'm glad my real grandparents provided you with a safe, God fearing household when you were only five weeks old, because who knows what you would've been like if they hadn't? You've always said they were your real parents, and I wholeheartedly agree.

Your favorite color is yellow, while mine is blue. You encourage instead of discourage. Unlike many fathers today, you care about me and what I do. Not just throwing me to the wolves in life when I move out, but you're showing me how to be an effective and hard working adult in society.

You have been the man of our extended family when so many others have left. I am grateful you have shown us that some males will not always walk out on their families when times are tough. Your strength during storms such as a death in the family has always been incomprehensible to me. The greatest of all is when I see you cry, because it really does take a lot for the waterworks to exit your body; when you do it tells me that it is okay to cry, that it is a sign of strength and not weakness.

You only took me fishing once, and I was perfectly fine with that. You have always made sure my mom and I are taken care of with food in our stomachs and gas in our cars. Through my depression, when I contemplated suicide, you spoke to me in a calm voice saying, "There is nothing in this world that we cannot fix." So thank you Dad, for never giving up on both mom and me. We have been through hell and back, but it has only made us stronger together as a family.