Have you ever heard the saying "Anyone can be a father but it takes someone special to be a dad?" That saying is definitely cliché, but it is also very true. Words do not suffice when I try explaining how thankful I am to have my father in my life. I am more thankful to have my dad.

My dad not only gave me my actual heart, but he also helped to shape it. My dad molded me into a kind and softhearted, yet strong and independent woman. My dad taught me that there is a time to be gentle and a time to be firm and how to tell the difference between the two. My dad not only gave me these eyes, he taught me how to see things beyond just the surface. My dad gave me a brain and then taught me how to use it. My dad gave me these legs and threw me into sports while pushing me to be the best I could be. He supported me even when I wasn't all that great.

My dad also gave me love handles but taught me how to love them anyways. My dad gave me chubby cheeks and a big nose, a loud laugh and a bad sense of humor. He taught me how to embrace them anyways. My dad has taught me how to recognize how much I am worth and how to prove it. My dad raised me to be honest and confident.

My dad has never let me or my sisters want for anything. My dad is one of the hardest workers I have known and has always provided us with all the useful things we need and all the useless things we want. (It doesn't go unnoticed, dad. I promise you.) However, the greatest things my dad has given me and my sisters are not actual things at all. They are the intangible quiet teachings of life and how to live it. It is the love that he shows through actions and the quiet voice in my head when I am about to do something stupid. Although everyone has their flaws, I know he is doing everything he can to love and provide for us. I have never felt like I wasn't loved or cared for. A dad has such a huge impact on a daughter and how she will love and respect herself for the rest of her life, and I am so glad I have never felt the absence of mine. My dad is always there to pick me up when I have fallen or give me a good lecture when I have done wrong (I know you're smiling at that one, dad.)

When you give a girl a dad, a dad like mine, she is also given all the tools necessary to make it through this life with fewer hardships and more smiles. Dad, you have made me everything I am and everything I am not and helped me to embrace it. This is my attempt to thank you. You are the rock our family leans on.