Dear Dad,

I spent the day with you today, and forgot to thank you for spending Father’s Day with me. Which made me think of all the things I probably forget to thank you for, and all the things I should have thanked you for along the way. So here goes.

Thank you Dad for teaching me to check my oil, and asking me 356,578 over the past ten years whether or not I checked the oil in my car lately. Thank you for explaining how to change my oil without making me actually do it, you know me well enough to know I have limits. Thank you for teaching me how to shoot a gun, ride a horse, skip a rock, drive a stick shift,  and probably swim, although I can’t remember learning, my best guess is you threw me in the river with water wings… sink or swim kiddo.

Thank you for letting me sleep in during summer breaks, teaching me what hard work was, and attempting to teach me how to hunt… although god knows you realized quickly that getting up at the you know what of dawn, focusing on the task at hand (aka finding deer) and walking quietly through the woods, did not come naturally to me.

Thank you Dad for silently retrieving a wet towel the first time you thought I was wearing too much makeup, lesson learned, nobody likes a hussy. Thank you for inspiring me to be healthy, to be active and for not commenting on my baby fat when I was going through my super awkward teenage years. Thanks for my baby brother, I don’t think either of us would have survived another girl.

Thank you for pushing my buttons on purpose, nobody can get me madder faster than you do, but it taught me early to draw a clear line in the sand with people, or they will draw it for you.

Thank you Dad for never asking me about boys, or bringing up my broken heart when I sometimes so obviously wear it on my sleeve. I know you think I’m too sensitive, you’ve told me this many times, but there never been a time I’ve appreciated your knack for companionable silence more.

Love you Dad