a father and his little girl

Just shy of 42 years ago this boy became a dad. He was a young boy of 20 and not quite sure how to be a dad. He was young and scared but also excited for the new life that would enter his.

He doubted a lot of what he did. Little did he know that he was really doing a good job. It was a lot of the little things that mattered to the little girl that you see him holding in the picture. It was the laughter, the smiles, the tickles, the honesty, the sharing of his stale potato chips that sat in his lunch box all day but he brought them home to her anyway because he knew she loved them, it was so many little things that I am not even sure he remembers. But that little girl does. She remembers them all. Even the phone calls from when he was away "hunting". He was her dad. Her first true love and he has remained embedded so deep in her heart that she could never, ever forget those things.

He made mistakes along the way....but what parent hasn't. It never changed the way she felt for him. In fact, it helped her be a better parent when it was her time.


He talks her down when she is up on a highwire that's ready to break, when she's a firecracker coming undone he puts her back together, he knows what to say, when to say it and he's not afraid of hurting her feelings if it's exactly what she needs to hear. He saves her everytime (think Kenny Chesney's You Save Me). He is the first one to offer that hug that she needs the most and he stands behind her when he knows she's right. He doesn't let her back down from a fight that he knows she can win, he gives her encouragement when she doubts herself. He helps her through the roughest of times and he is the memories in her head that she turns to when she needs a smile or a laugh. He makes her laugh and he makes her cry. He is her dad and she loves him with all of her heart.

He has been there for that little girl through so much. It might have taken him time to get there but in the end he was always there for her. Regardless of how mad she made him or how much she disappointed him. He was a true father. He loved her unconditionally through thick and thin and he still does.

She may be almost 42 but he is her daddy and she is still his little girl.

On this Father's Day this daughter would like to wish her dad the best of days and let him know that even though she has been absent as of late these days he is always with her in her heart and that without a shadow of a doubt that she would not be the mother or the person that she is today without his unwavering belief in her.

Thank you dad. I love you so much!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY You are a wonderful dad!!!