Fathers Day Present

Daughters Gift

Thank you, Dad, for spending many, many patient evenings rocking a colicky baby when she would not stop crying for hours on end.

If it is any consolation, you rocked that afro and the 70s bathrobe that you probably stole from the production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

Thank you for holding on to the back of my bike so I wouldn’t fall and thank you for knowing when to let go.

Thank you for spending countless hours in the backyard teaching me to “not throw like a girl.” That skill has come in handy more than you know. Thanks for showing me how to shoot a basketball. I bet you had no idea that someday I would use those tips to kick my husband’s butt in 21, two-bounce, and horse.

Thank you for teaching me how to drive and parallel park—you did it all with a calm that not many could maintain with a terrified 16-year-old in the driver’s seat.

Thank you for putting up with me during those teen years. That was some roller-coaster ride, huh?  I pray that I will have the restraint with my children that you showed with me. I know I deserved to be strangled on more than one occasion.

Thank you for having all the answers. And even when you didn’t, thanks for making them up. It meant so much to me to believe that you knew everything. So much so, that when E once asked MJ what was planted in a field and he said, “I don’t know”, I pulled him aside and told him to make something up because Dads are supposed to know everything.

I am thankful for all of those phone calls when I was pregnant with E, when I worked night shift and you were working swing shifts. I believe we grew so much closer in that time and I treasure being able to talk to you about anything—we have the sort of father-daughter relationship that not many have. You are, without a doubt, one of my best friends. It makes me giggle every time when we call each other and the first thing out of our mouths is the “Whassaaaaaaaap?” from the old Budweiser commercials.

Thank you for leading by example, you have always practiced what you preached. I will always try to treat others the way I would want to be treated. I will remember that no matter what, family comes first.

Thank you for being an all-around superman. You can install a ceiling fan, run electricity, carve a bow and arrow or a slingshot from a stick, change a battery, change a tire, change spark plugs, set up a stereo, hang Christmas lights, settle an argument, put things in perspective, write novels and poetry, you always catch the big fish in the little reservoirs and I believe you know how to do and can do just about anything.

Thank you for being the sort of man that I held all others up to, so that I only settled for the very best when I married. Thank you for instilling in me the self-confidence and feelings of self-worth by being a father who was and is always present and involved in my life.

Thank you for being the sort of father that every girl deserves. But I’m so thankful that you’re mine.

I love you. Happy Father’s Day, Dad.