Dear Dad
I told a story a few weeks ago on my blog about a night I had with an ex of mine that ended up with me losing my car keys and much chaos. I realized I left one of the most important pieces of that story out. Let me just refresh your memory about the post. I was out one night with a friend and I lost my car keys. I spent the night searching for them but then finally ordered AAA. Eventually I was able to find my spare keys and get my car home. But the part of the story that I forgot to tell you was that my father was there the entire time.
Yup. My dad drove his car and waited with me while I waited for AAA at 3am. He drove his car and followed the tow truck when they brought my car to the mechanic. He drove his car and followed me home when I was finally able to drive my car home. Yeah, that's my dad.
I sat back and thought about why I left that part of the story out? It's the best part of the story and I left it out. Why did I skip the act of my father protecting me and making sure I was safe? I think it's because he's been doing that my whole life. I don't know a time in my childhood or adulthood where my father wasn't there in my time of need, in my time of despair, in my time of fear. It's normal in my life for him to be there. It's normal for him to show up. I grew up with this kind of extraordinary dad. It was normal for my dad to come home every night to be with his family. It was normal for my dad to make every game, recital, & achievement ceremony. It was normal for my dad to carpool us to dances and sleepovers. It was normal for us to go to church every Sunday and sometimes dad treat us to IHOP. It was normal for my dad to fix everything broken in the house. It was normal for my mom to take Saturdays off and my dad cook hot dogs and baked beans for his one pot wonder dinner. It was normal for me to go out to dinner as a little girl on Valentine's Day with my dad or when I got older, for him to send me flowers. It was normal for my dad to go to work, take care of us and never make us worry about life. It is normal for me to see my dad love my mom with his whole heart. It is normal for my dad to take me to breakfast and check on my happiness, to check on my soul. It is normal for me to be loved. It is just normal.
I never want to take that normal for granted. So many times with the things we deem expected, we take advantage of it. I never want to get so used to my dad being the best dad in the world that I forget to say thank you. That I forget to tell the stories of you saving my life time and time again. I never want to forget that no matter how accustomed I become to you being a phenomenal dad, I need to make sure you are appreciated.
So dad, I never said thank you for that night. I never took the time to tell you how much it meant to me for you to get out of your bed at 2am in the morning to show me what real fathers do, really what real men do. All my brothers laugh because they say whatever guy ends up with me has a HARD ACT TO FOLLOW. And it is funny, but isn't that how it should be? Shouldn't a daughter be so loved by her father that every man that comes into her life will have to shit or get off the pot? Sorry mom, let me rephrase that. Shouldn't it be that every man that comes into her life has to show up for her in a grand way because she doesn't know anything less? Thanks dad for making sure I saw the greatest example of love.
#deardad Happy Father's Day, you're the GOAT
