For All Daddies...Especially Mine

Today's entry was an easy choice for me. There is nothing else I'd rather write about today than my wonderfully awesome daddy. My dad and I have become partners in crime. Whether it be some sort of culinary adventure, trying new beers at some dive bar, or working on our photography, there is never a shortage of fun or laughs. I am a total daddy's girl. Since day one, my dad has been the uber protective "Emily, remember boys lie," and "where's the rest of that skirt, young lady?" kind of dad. He's been my role model, my inspiration, my protector, and my shoulder to cry on. He still refers to me as "his little baby girl" which can be both endearing and annoying. He hates that I'm growing up and he especially hates the thought of having another guy take care of me; or as he might see it "replace him." To the point where watching Father of the Bride makes him teary eyed and he threatens to put me in a convent. Yes, a convent. I remember conversations where I would start with "When I get married one day..." That's when my dad interrupts me with "There are no weddings in the convent." But I digress. My dad should know by now that he is 100% irreplaceable to me. I always said my two main men are my dad and my brother because they have been and always will be there for me. The person I marry one day (I'm not going to a convent) has some pretty big shoes to fill. I can only hope for a man and father for my maybe-one-day children to be even half as amazing as my dad is. I look forward to maybe one day adding "amazing grandfather" to the ever growing list of my dad's wonderful attributes. So with that said, here's to my daddy and amazing daddy's everywhere:

Here's to the fathers, who always begin,
on the outside of children, but looking in.
Such curious men snapping cameras like mad,
recording the moment, they turn into "Dad."

Here's to the fathers, who put in their time,
who don't say to mothers 'that's your job, not mine'.
Who wipe chins and noses and never say "won't"
who do with the diapers, what some fathers don't.

And as the child grows, they grow with it too,
learning a depth that they never knew.
And soon they are older, their hair slightly gone,
chasing two children around the front lawn.

Or car-pooling teams to Little League games,
buying them hamburgers after it rains.
They mend broken dolls and fix broken wheels,
they cringe when their daughters, try their first pair of heels.

They reach in their pockets, but never keep count,
they pay dear for parenthood, in awful amounts
They postpone their plans to sail across seas,
instead they sing "Barney" and bandage skinned knees.

Here's to the fathers who get off the phone,
to hear their sons practice their new saxophone
Who leave work to see their daughter's recital
Here's to the heroes, who work without title.

So here's to the fathers who won't compromise
who see a light shining in their children's eyes
And feel a rare glow as if from a gem
and know that once someone saw this glow in them.

For all the good boys they have raised in the world
for all the examples they set for their girls
For all the loved children whose stories they'll tell
Here's to the father's that taught them so well.

Happy Father's Day!

♥