I’ve been thinking about my Dad a lot lately, that tends to happen this time of year. Truth be told, I’ve never had the best relationship with my father. We talk more now that I live 500 miles away then we ever did when I was growing up. In fact, as a kid and teen I saw my Dad as stubborn, temperamental and strict, the same way that he describes his father. Now, I find that I have those same traits. Today I just wanted to list some things that my Dad did right but has taken me being a parent myself to see.

1. My father never told me that girls couldn’t be smart. In fact, I think he was rather proud that I was smart and worked hard in school.

2. He may not agree with all the choices I’ve made but he’s always supported me. Except when I die my hair red, then he just laughs at me.

3. He was a SAHD before it was okay to be one and he was pretty good at it. When we were little he got us up, made us breakfast and either took care of us or made sure we made it to pre-school. When we got older he always made sure that dinner was ready before we had to be somewhere or was still warm if we got home late.

4. He never told me that girls couldn’t like Sci-Fi. In fact, he was the one who introduced me to it. Some of my earliest memories are of watching Star Wars with him. Also, he never told me that I had to choose between Star Wars and Star Trek, and I never have. I love them both along with Firefly, SG-1, Eureka, etc… What can I say, I’m a geek girl.

5. He walked me down the aisle at my wedding and was in the pictures. Two things he hates, being in front of people and being in pictures. But he did it, for me.

6. He is an great grandfather. Little Miss has him wrapped around her finger and he loves it, even if he won’t admit it.

7. He’s always there when I have a question about anything. If he doesn’t know the answer, he tries to find it or figure it out. Most of my questions tend to be about cooking, I’m more of a baker than a cook.

8. There are TONS of pictures of my childhood. He was the one behind the camera. I’m grateful for this even when the  pictures were of me eating dog food that would later embarrass me. Now, I do the same to my girls.

9. He travels over 500 miles one way, even for just a couple of days, to spend time with us.

10. Being a man of few words, he may never say “I love you” but I know he does by all he does for me.

Happy Father’s Day Dad. Thank you for everything.