To my Father

Dear Dad:

I remember when i was a kid, that you seemed to be the biggest person i ever knew. No one else has a dad as big as my dad.
I remember as a kid, when you worked overseas, we would be so excited for you to come home. Dying to talk to you, to tell you all the stories i had. and i remember hearing the hardest words for me to understand, Leave him Joanne, he is jet lagged and needs to sleep. You can talk to him tommorrow. But I dont want to wiat until tommorrow, I wanted to see you, to get lost in your arms, and be able to lay my head on your chest, to hear you say Hi Boo Boo, and tell me how big I have gotten.
I wanted to show you the cats, and how they played with me, and where the momma hid her babies, I wanted you to come outside with us kids, and help us build a snow fort, or take us on a skidoo ride.
There never seemed to be enough time when you were home, and i missed you everytime you left. Maybe some of the time, as I got older, became a teenager, it didnt seem like it. But I always liked it better when you were home. I liked to brag to my friends how many pages your passport had, and how many stamps were in it. I was so proud of the fact that you had been to so many places, other kids dads stayed home and worked, but my dad has been all over the world. I remember how when we asked you something, you never answered in english, you always said some word in some other language that we never knew, or ever understood, but the word meant that you were listening, that you heard us.
You had good stories of far away and brought back cool thinsg for us to see, You opened my eyes to the world in more ways then I could ever thank you for. The shark teeth, the rhinocerous beetle, the snake skin, all constant reminders of how cool my dad is. I rememberhow proud i was, and exited that I found that beaver for you, and as de-ranged as it is to have roadkill in your house, I remember how excited you were about it, because you had one to show your friends
I remember the letters I would get at camp, or where-ever I was, from mom. It was so exciting to get mail, I loved it, and every once in a while, you would write a little something on the bottom, and it made them that much better

I remember the tough side, the side that wouldn't hesitate to make me feel bad, and ashamed for whatever it was that I did, the side that tried to explain to me how things worked, and how to act appropriately, when Mom was too mad to even speak.
But I also remember the first time I saw you cry, and how I didnt even know what happened, but i felt like crying too, it hurt me to even see you so upset, I didnt know what could possibly have happened, that would make MY dad cry. I found out later that day the reason. You had lost your mother. I remember being terrified that day. All i could think about was what if it was me. what if someone had to tell me that one of my parents would never be back.

You've given me wings daddy, the urge to travel all over the world, to see what you have seen, to know what you know. You have given me the strength to go off alone, to find what it is I want in life, to be who i want to be, and you have given me the wisdom to know to never to let go of your family and your home. Its who you are.

Thanks for being the best dad that a girl could want. You have always been the voice of reason in the back of my mind, what would dad say if he knew, what would dad think about this?

You are always who i think to call if i have a problem, even if its about something you may not know about, you always have a good answer.

I'll always love you Dad, and i'll always come home to see you

Love

your daughter