Every year on mother's day an out pouring of love comes out for our moms. On father's day the same love shows for our dads, but also for all the single moms who do double duty. What about all the double duty dad's though?! They don't always get enough credit for what they do. So, I'm here today to tell you; I see you, and everything you do for your babies.

I grew up with a single dad, so I understand how different life can be with only one parent. I saw my dad laugh, and cry and grow along with me. For the last 20 something years he has done everything in his power to make sure I lived a happy healthy life with or without a mom. I know I'm not alone in this experience, so here's to all the single dads:

Thank you for stepping up to the plate.

In a world where so many fathers shy away from being a parent to their children, where men choose to give up a piece of their paycheck in place of providing for their babies, you stepped up. You stepped up, and hit it out of the park by choosing to take on fatherhood alone.

Thank you for teaching us our worth.

Despite not having two parents to fawn over our crayon art from pre-k, you made us feel special. You always make sure we know how proud you are. You go out of your way to wear the cheesy "university dad" t-shirt you got for christmas, and are always our #1 fan at every important thing we do. Because of you, We never once felt like we were less of a person because we only had one parent.

Thank you for putting up with our shenanigans.

You let us jump on you while you read "Hop on Pop", and let us listen to that nsync CD on repeat even though you complained every time (You know you loved JT just as much as us). You sat in the car desperately grabbing every surface in the car while you taught us how to drive, laughed at our awkward goth phase in middle school. We threw you for a wild ride but you were there for all of it.

You were always there. So, thank you for standing by our sides.

You stood by us from the time we were babies, to our (sort of) adulthood today. You were a rock in the storm that is life. You laughed with us and cried with us and never let us feel alone.

So thank you. You don't get the credit you deserve. So this mother's day, take a minute to pat yourself on the back, because you are more than just dads. You're our heroes.

Love,

Your favorite children.