Ten Reasons Why My Dad Rocks

One day late, but it's going to count for Father's Day...because I say so.

1. Besides being a good dad, he's a good man and a good person. He has worked at the same job since before I was born to support his family, even though it's not glamorous. He never hits, he never yells, he barely ever swears. He doesn't drink to excess, smoke, gamble, or see other women. He helps people. I cannot count the number of times people have said things to me along the lines of "Your dad is the best guy! He's always willing to help out!"

2. He really appreciates the simple things in the world. I never feel embarrassed to tell him about being geeked out about stuff like seeing a lizard in my yard or going on a moonlight canoe paddle, because he totally gets it. He'll come right back and say, "I know! Sometimes I'm driving along and I see something like a horse rolling on his back out in the field and I think, 'Thank you, God, for letting me have this moment.' "

3. I've never thought of myself as a daddy's girl in a princessy, prissy way, but I definitely am in the will-always-be-fond-of-him way. When I got married, I thought about keeping my maiden name as my middle name, but I didn't because I just couldn't stand the thought of dropping my given middle name. My main childhood nickname from my dad was my first name followed by an abbreviated version of my middle name. The thought of him never "officially" being able to call me that again made me tear up, so I quickly abandoned that plan. FirstName MiddleName MaidenName MarriedName was a bit ungainly, so I dropped my maiden name and hung onto my middle name. All because of happy memories of my dad.

4. Even though he never ceased to be scandalized by the cost of textbooks, he was very supportive of me while I was in college. He never acted like I was wasting my time. Any time I needed something--from a rock hammer to a mineral guide to a ride home from campus--he was there for me.

5. He cannot tell jokes. He usually gets halfway through and forgets the punchline and has to backtrack. It's adorable.

6. For my sixteenth birthday, he wrote me this amazing, sweet letter about how proud he was of me and how special our relationship was to him.

7. If I had to make a top five list of memories from my wedding, this would be one of them: looking up from talking to someone to see all of my friends holding hands and dancing in a giant circle to "Brown-Eyed Girl," with my dad as the ringleader. The joy I felt in that moment was almost overwhelming.

8. This would be another: for our father-daughter dance, I had my uncle play and sing "Catch a Falling Star." When I told Dad that I picked it because it was the first song I can remember him teaching me to play on the piano, his eyes filled up with tears. I've never seen my dad cry. Now every time I go to a wedding and see the father-daughter dance, I almost lose it and start bawling.

9. Dad and I haven't always been great at expressing our feelings for each other. My mom always said, "I love you" when she'd tuck us in at night or whenever we'd leave to go somewhere. I don't know if Dad just didn't grow up saying it or what. He'd say, "I love my girls" in general about me and my sister and my mom, but we didn't really say "I love you" to each other. When I was about thirteen or fourteen, I started to worry that my dad wouldn't know that I loved him, really, if I didn't say it. I don't know why it was so hard, but it took me weeks to get up enough courage to say it out loud.

My room was in the basement of the house, and my dad came home from work pretty late in the evening. Usually, we'd be the last two awake, and he'd be sitting in the living room watching TV as I went past and down the basement stairs. The night I finally had the guts to say it, I waited until I was practically already down the first few steps, probably with the door actually swinging shut behind me before I called out, "Good night, Dad. I love you!" I will never forget the expression on his face as he looked up at me in amazement and said, "I love you, too." We're not shy about that anymore.

10. I know that in his eyes, my sister and I will always be the smartest, prettiest, most awesome daughters in the whole wide world. He is the greatest dad, and I am so lucky to be his kid.


Even though you are as internet impaired as Mom and will therefore also probably never read this...I love you, Dad! Happy Father's Day, one day late!



Reading: Sourcery by Terry Pratchett, Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

Playing: Stadium Arcadium by the Red Hot Chili Peppers