My Dad Could Beat Up Your Dad

To many, "Hallmark Holidays" like Valentines Day and Administrative Assistants Day can get overlooked, and in some cases it may not be a detriment, but I know very few people who pass over Mothers Day as though it were an option. Phone calls are made, bouquets are bought, and little hands work furiously gluing on macaroni to household objects. Mothers Day is a biggie, everyone has one, whether she's a step-mom (mines awesome!) a grandmother, or someone else, and everyone makes the effort to let "Mom" know shes appreciated.

Mothers Day to me isn't that big a deal, while I'm lucky enough to still have my mother, years of misunderstandings and family turmoil have pushed us apart. I still make a phone call every May, and send a card to an important woman in my life, but to me, Fathers Day is what really matters.

Call me a Daddy's Girl, I won't deny it. In fact, I'll be the first to admit that my dad and I are really close. It wasn't always this way, but sometimes I think that it's really how it needed to be. It took me a while to realize how similar I am to my Dad, and how the things I though divided us were really the things that united us and made us even closer and how my Dad is really one of the best people in the entire world.

My father, was the first person I looked at, ever. He tells me that I looked up at him with giant eyes and he was already proud of me. This man, became the greatest man I will ever know, just like that. There are little things that a girl needs her daddy for, someones got to teach her how to ride a bike, someones got to buy her her first guitar and someones got to be the one to say "Yes" when Mom said "No." My Dad taught me how to use my voice, how to sing what I feel and how to speak my mind. He taught me how to write, whether it be songs, or essays or facebook updates, there is a little bit of my Dad in my prose.

I was lucky, because my Dad, he taught me how to cook. If my mother's culinary skills were the only example I had, I would have starved by now. Thanks to my Dad, I make the BEST grilled cheese sandwich known to man. My Dad, also taught me about politics, the politics of right and wrong, the politics of social dynamics and the politics of our country. He's probably the smartest person I know, and was always encouraging me to ask questions and he'd always answer so I understood.

My ultimate protector (My Dad COULD beat up your Dad), my greatest inspiration, and the best cheering squad I could ask for. He really is my one man back up band, and I am "Daddy's Little Roadie" and together we are a dream team.

The best part about my Dad, is that he admits when he's wrong, and he's humble. He doesn't boast about frivolous things and is my example for humility and keeping things in perspective. My father is a global thinker, and I'm lucky that his thoughts have rubbed off on me. He's never told me that I can't do something, he sees me running down a hundred different career paths, and has never told me that I have to choose just one. My Dad lives for the moment, and today, and encourages me to do the same.

When I opened my eyes for the first time, and looked into that face of his, I wonder if he knew, 24 years later how proud I'd be to call him Dad.

Happy Fathers Day

xo