From Dad
“For all the prayers I ever prayed, you are truly the answer. Have faith that you will never lose. You either win or learn. Aim for the skies. I hope you believe in yourself as much as I believe in you.”
“I know I ask too many questions about the car and the tires and the route. It is not that I think you cannot manage. It is the only way I know how to say it.”
“You take care of so many people that I sometimes wonder who takes care of you. So please eat a real meal, get some sleep, and let someone spoil you a little.”
“Believe deep in your heart that you can achieve anything your heart desires. Take pride in how far you've come and have faith in how far you can go. But don't forget to enjoy the journey.”
“Somewhere along the way, you started giving me better advice than I gave you. I do not know when it happened, but I am so proud that it did.”
“When you close your eyes and make a wish over the candles, know that your old dad is wishing the very same thing, only harder.”
“The house is a lot quieter now, and I have stopped pretending I do not notice. But every time you tell me about your new place, I can hear how happy you are.”
“I am better at fixing things than I have ever been at saying any of this out loud. So I have mostly shown you instead, and hoped that you were counting it.”
“When you were little, your birthday list was longer than the fridge door. I could never get you everything on it, but I hope you always knew you had my heart.”
“I always trusted you to choose someone who would treat you kindly. Watching the two of you together, I know you chose exactly right.”
“Nothing about this was handed to you. You earned it the long way. That is the kind of success that stays with you for the rest of your life.”
“I watched you study through late nights and early shifts to become a nurse. You never once talked about quitting, even when I would have understood.”
“You laugh exactly like your mother did when she was young, which you know. What you do not know is that it stops me wherever I am standing, every time.”
“Everyone will say you look beautiful today, and they will be right. But what I love most is that you look so completely like yourself.”
“You made it to winter break, and I know how hard you worked to get here. No lesson plans, no grading and no alarm clock for two whole weeks.”
“You make a lot of hard things look easy, and I know they are not. I see how much work and heart goes into every one of them.”
“I ran behind that bicycle holding the seat for most of one long summer. You did not notice the day I let go, and that was entirely the point.”
“There will be days when you do not know how to fix something. You will figure it out, the way you always have, and I will be a phone call away.”
“You inherited my sense of humor and made it even better. Remember: you're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and funnier than you think. Keep spreading joy wherever you go, sweetheart.”
“You have worked birthdays, holidays and more night shifts than I can count. I hope you get this birthday off, and if not, I hope someone brings you cake.”
“It starts to feel like Christmas the moment your car pulls into the driveway. Before that it is just lights, a tree and a lot of waiting.”
“Your Christmas lists used to run three pages, with pictures cut from catalogs. These days, the thing I want most is just time with you.”
“I still remember running behind your first bike, holding on to the seat. The day I let go, you rode all the way to the end of the street.”
“When you took your first breath, I told you I love you. And I'd use my last breath to tell you the same. I might not be with you, but know that I believe in you.”