Letter To My Dad
Many
people
at the wedding today know that the majority of the time I tend to act more like a kid than the adult that I am. I am much more entertained and much happier collecting toys and going to Disney World than I am doing age appropriate things like going out to bars. And, I am never fearful of looking like a complete fool so long as I am doing things that bring me joy or bring joy to others. I now understand that in these moments as a young child, when you took the time to make the ordinary, like taking a walk, extraordinary, you were nurturing my child-like spirit and were strengthening my fearlessness. I grew a little more and entered the period of going to school. With this came your help with my homework. I remember there was a while where I always felt so frustrated because I didn’t understand math very well. What other classmates made look so easy, always made me feel so stupid. But, I always would get home knowing that I had you to help me. I recall you knelt by my bedside, in your work uniform, helping me along with so much patience. While I still experienced frustration because I couldn’t pick things up easily, you were always by my side until I got to the right answer. As years have gone by, I have kept these lessons with me when I am confronting new challenges or moments of frustration. You helped me grow my confidence to face failure in life and continue to move forward until I reached success.
I
continued
to grow into my adolescence and, unfortunately, I began to spend less time with you. While my lengthy times by your side grew shorter, you still continued to teach me vital lessons through your actions. Our family experienced a period where you were working two jobs, at Metals USA and at LaserCraft, while mom was in Mexico to help with my grandpa as he lived the final days of his lifetime. Even though you worked so many hours and were only left with a handful to shower, sleep, and prepare your things for the next work day, you sacrificed some of those hours to make sure my brothers and I had meals to eat and to spend even just a few moments with us to say bye before heading into work. Your selflessness taught me the importance of being a supportive partner and the importance of placing the needs of others in front of your own. Now that I am living in my adult years, I continue to apply all these lessons while I also continue to learn from you. Your recent interest in investments is my example of continuing to learn and grow as a person. I’ve had the privilege to see how you spend time with my nieces. You have so much patience while they paint your nails and you answer all of their millions of questions. These are all reminders of how patience is such a great strength to have and how important it is in creating a safe space for others.
The
efforts
that you put into everything you do, whether it be at your job or in maintaining your lawn…..or Tori and I’s lawn, it is a reflection of just the kind of person you are. You never stop doing something until it is 100% done. You have been a pivotal example on how important it is to maintain discipline and a great work ethic so that I can have achieve whatever it is I want in my life. To be honest, I can continue to go on for the rest of this night giving countless examples on how you are such a selfless person. I wanted to take this moment to give you the thanks for all of the sacrifices that you have made by my mom’s side, for everything you have been able to provide for our family, and for everything you continue to do for us and for others. My love for you continues to grow through all of these moments. I love you so much and I just wanted to say thank you for being MY dad.