Dear Daddy

Dad, I started writing this on your birthday but life kind of got in the way of me finishing until right now. Sorry about that. There are a few things that I wanted to tell you though with your special day in mind.

The first thing that I want to say is that I miss you. The 1200 miles that lie between us is about 1200 miles too far from you. I miss you so much and I do not do a good enough job of telling you that.

The second thing that I want to tell you is thank you. You have been my greatest support system from the beginning.

Thank you for teaching me what hard work looks like. You led by example and you walked along side us to ingrain a strong work ethic in all of us kids and I cannot thank you enough for it. 

Thank you for teaching me about culture and for developing my love for travel. I never realized where that passion came from before I sat down to write this blog and I realized that I fell in love with the world in 2003 when you and mom took us to Mexico for the first time. Thank you for the opportunity to see and love the world. 

Thank you for teaching me how to laugh. How to find joy in life even during the hard times. You always have been able to find something to laugh at and you never cease to make us kids laugh. (except for when you are scary mad). Your joy is contagious and I am so thankful for that. 

Thank you for teaching me that I am beautiful and showing me how a woman is supposed to be treated. You have no idea how valuable that has been. You showed us by loving moma and treating her right. You love us girls and you make us feel beautiful. There are not words enough to tell you how grateful I am for that. 

I also want to thank you for supporting me in all of life's adventures. You encourage me when I struggle in school, you help walk me through a difficult decision, you support me on mission trips, you drove me to Kansas to leave me there for 5 years. I know that I can always call you and count on you to be there when I need you. 

You have been the best father that I could have asked for. I am so thankful to have you in my life. Nov. 19th will always be a very special day because it is the day that my favorite guy was born into this world. I hope that you had a great day for you birthday. Please just know that you are oh so loved and we all appreciate all that you do. It killed me to not be there with you. I love you so much and I cannot wait to see you soon! <3