Dear Daddy,

Yesterday, I started thinking about Father’s Day this weekend and how sad I was that I wasn’t going to get to spend it with you. I felt down for a little bit until I switched on an oldies radio channel and “Under the Boardwalk” was playing.

That song always makes me think of you for some reason. It makes me remember of all those long road trips we took to get to whatever gym my next volleyball tournament was in. We logged a lot of time listening to oldies on those trips!

This got me thinking about how lucky I am to have you for my dad. There are so many things to thank you for. Here are just a few:

– Thank you for holding my hand all the way, every day on the drive to pre-school. Those pre-school days were pretty overwhelming with all those colors I had to remember and forced naps on hard floor mats. Having your big paw wrapped around my little hand each morning was just what I needed to give me the courage to face the day.

– Thanks for making bedtime fun by carrying me over your shoulder singing “Yaw Hee Haw!” like you were a big giant. From the stories I hear about me screaming “I HATE my bed!!” when I was little, I’m sure it took some imagination and patience to get me to sleep.

– I appreciate all those hours you spent coaching, practicing with me and cheering me on in my athletic pursuits. You were always the “nice coach” and that was a big relief for me in jr. high when nothing was worse than having your dad be the mean coach.

– Thank you for giving up all those weeknights, weekends and money to let me pursue my dreams of playing volleyball. I learned a lot about myself through that sport, but more importantly, I got to spent lots of quality time with you.

– Although it bothered me when you didn’t always agree with my decisions – like when I quit volleyball my sophomore year of college instead of accepting that scholarship – I am happy I had you there to challenge me. It made me even more motivated to prove to you that I had made a good choice and ultimately helped me succeed in many ways.

– Thank you for sympathizing with me when I got my heart broken by a boy. Remember that one time when I called you upset because a guy I liked a whole bunch was clearly playing games and stringing me along? I told you I felt so stupid and you said “Liz, guys like that are the real losers. The ones who never let anyone really in and play with girl’s heads for fun…they are the ones who will always end up losing in life. You’re already ahead of him because you opened yourself up.” That was great advice.

– I’m so grateful for so many of your qualities. Your kindness, thoughtfulness, loyalty, drive to succeed and even your cheesy sense of humor. You’ve shown me what a real man should be like. Luke is so like you it’s almost weird. They say girls look for guys like their fathers, and in my case that is definitely true.

I know this is just the tip of the iceberg for things I want to thank you for. You’re a great father and I hope you’re proud of how I’ve turned out. So much of who I am is because of you.

Have a great day today. Play lots of golf, eat a steak and miss me just a little.

Love your youngest child,

Diz