Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads who are steady doing their thing and raising, loving and mentoring amazing kids and

A special Fathers' Day to the one I love the most, my daddy.

I am a Daddy's Girl by profession (and spoiled rotten), so of course I'm all about that long epistle of a Daddy Appreciation post. (No hard feelings, Mommy, it's just that... well, he's Daddy... and... yeah. I just had to.)

I have very fond childhood memories of Daddy - who let me sit on his shoulders at Disney when I couldn't see the parade, and helped me across the monkey bars and pushed me on swings... but now that parade is called 'life' and he's still the one who helps me to see. Those monkeys bars and those swings? Obstacles that he still helps me across. Things change, but they definitely stay the same.

I have a father who lets me express myself, and loves me because I'm me and that's amazing. A lot of people say they don't truly know who their parents are as people, but I have the pleasure of saying that I know my Daddy as a person. And he's a darn good one.

My Daddy is the best of toughness and the best of softness. He's my rock when I need him to be, but he's also my pillow when I need him to be. I know wherever Daddy is, there's home.

Even when I'm mad at Daddy, I just have to take one good look at him and I'm smiling again. Daddy has an incredible sense of humour (though I don't tell him, because his jokes are really lame sometimes and I'd hate to admit that I'm lame too) and he clearly never grows up, even though he's regretfully getting... old. :(

I'm lucky. No, I'm more than lucky. I'm blessed. I'm so incredibly grateful for the father I have, and I really wish more people could have a father as amazing as mine.

Here's to my Daddy, for being the only man who's ever been my knight in shining armour. For the man who was there before the boys, and will occupy the number one spot even after those boys. For the father who gave me my love of adventure, of expression, of being alive. For the father who stuck around, who taught me that a man could love a woman and build a life with that woman, raise children with that woman; giving me hope that maybe someday somebody could love me like that.

Here's to the hot boy with the big van and the huge hugs.

Here's to the almost eighteen years of love, support, pride and joy.

And here's to the many years to come.

Love always,
your daughter,
me.