I grew up an absolute daddy’s girl from day one, there was never any question about it. My mom will totally vouch for this because I’m pretty sure it has driven her crazy since the day I was born. For me, there has always been this unspoken bond between my dad and I. Maybe it was the constant traveling for all of my sports teams he coached, or the bonding over Sunday football, or just being so similar in personalities. Whatever it is, I thank God every day for the man. So dad, thank you.

Thank you for loving me through it all.

I was an easy child to raise for the most part… until I wasn’t. I’ve had my fair share of screw ups and I’ve lost my fair share of friends/boyfriends/acquaintances/etc. But every time I stumbled, there was always one thing I could be absolutely certain of. That hand, reaching out to help me up before I could even fall down, was the hand of my father. Complete strangers are able to feel the compassion this man oozes, so the gift of being his daughter? There’s nothing like it. He makes sure to end every conversation we have with, “Love you more”, but he has no idea how wrong he is.

Thank you for letting me date the guys you knew were wrong.

Searching for a man as wonderful as my dad is truly an inevitable disappointment, so I think sometimes I tried to take the easy road and do the exact opposite. (Teenage me was dumb, okay?) Not one time has he ever told me I couldn’t date someone or discouraged me from following my heart. I think he shares the same burden of having so much love to give those around you that it becomes overwhelming at times, so he understands. He let me struggle through relationships he knew weren’t right and he let me learn on my own.

Thank you for showing me true love.

The way my dad still looks at my mom when he hears her laugh is something movie directors could only dream of recreating. Almost thirty years of marriage and they still flirt like they are back in college. I used to detest it, I thought it was the grossest thing that they couldn’t stop kissing and laughing. Now? I admire it. The fact that you have coffee made on a daily basis for my mom. Thank you for showing me how a husband should love a wife, how a father should treat his daughters. Thank you for being a brilliant role model in every sense of the word.

Lastly, thank you for being a man of Christ.

What a Godly, hardworking man my father is. There is no person I’ve met that will break himself down to accomplish something, even if it serves no purpose in his own life. He lives to serve others however he can and he does so by first serving Christ. My father spends his life walking humbly with our God and I fully believe that has everything to do with the incredible man he is.

Thank you, dad. For being you.

Love you more,

Your eldest.