As my father reached for my hand and sounds of Nat King Cole’s voice filled the warm summer night air, my heart filled with an indescribable fullness.  As my daddy twirled me around the dance floor, tears streamed down my face onto my heavily blushed cheeks.  I was no longer his youngest little girl standing atop his big feet, trying to learn how to dance, but a young woman starting my own life with a man that would now fill the shoes he had filled for so many years of my life. 

My daddy is a man I adore with all my heart.  He is a man that loves and cares for his family and drops anything to just be there.  He is a man that adores the ground my mother walks on, that laughs so hard he cries, that listens like nothing else is more important, that gives of himself to charity and to people with less, that protected and shielded us from harm, that comforted and calmed us, that tells corny jokes, that lights up in the presence of his grandchildren, that allows others to feel immediately at ease, that gives all he has to give, and lives his life with incredible heart. 

My dad is my daddy and I will never forget all the sacrifices he made for our family.  I will never forget how he went to school and worked full time or how he worked while we were still fast asleep in order to provide for our family.  I’ll never forget dancing atop his feet in the living room as he taught me the polka, laughing the entire time.  I’ll never forget the way he flew across the country to help me move or the way his eyes filled with tears as I left to go away to school.  I’ll never forget the way he raised 5 daughters, the way he’d tell our friends we were “precious cargo” whenever they drove us somewhere or the way he gave written tests to new boyfriends.  I won’t forget how he told us the car was a “lethal weapon” before our first driving lesson or the way he always asked if we’d read the chapter, done the examples, had a clean piece of paper, sharpened pencil, and eraser before he’d help us with our math homework.  I’ll never forget how he’d try to make me laugh on the way to auditions or sing along as I warmed up in the car.  I’ll never forget the way he cared for his own parents or the way he looks at and loves my mom.  I’ll never forget his contagious laugh or the way he looked at me on our wedding day.  I’ll never forget any of it.  He is my daddy dear and I love him more than he’ll ever know.

Happy Father’s day, Dad, and to all the Dads out there!