Dawn to Dusk: Fortunate Friday

Father's Day is this weekend! This will be the 1st Father's Day that I am a married woman, part of me feels that my Dad had "to let go" of his little girl when I tied the knot almost a year ago. I now have Pat that can do those typical "Dad" duties that he used to help me with such as changing my oil, rotating and airing up my tires, fixing anything that breaks, hanging stuff on the walls, you know, all those guy things. It's hard to let go of that, you know, trying not to call Dad for everything anymore. I'm trying to learn to also be respectful of Pat, I know he wants to do things on his own etc. but I'm finding it hard to say "Can I just call my Dad and see what he thinks?" when Pat gets stuck with something. Even if Pat thinks he knows how to do something, I'll catch myself saying, "Well my Dad would do it this way......" (this is not a good comment to make fyi). But I'm learning and trying:)

I seriously have the best Dad a girl could ask for, I mean yea- he was pretty strict on me growing up (and boy I hated to make him mad!!), maybe more protective you could call it, but looking back, I find that I now appreciate it so much more and understand why he was the way he was. He also was harder on me that my younger sisters (they may say differently) but pretty sure my Mom would agree. I've always thought he expected more from me, maybe because I'm the oldest. Even though I felt he expected more, I never once doubted the fact that he was more proud of me that I could ever imagine. He has been extremely encouraging and supportive throughout my whole life, and to this day I HATE to disappoint him. One thing that he always tells me is "You can do anything you set your mind to". He knows my dream is to open my own business one of these days, and out of anyone I know, my Dad has full confidence that I will succeed, such a great feeling!

I look up to him for so many reasons- his work ethic (the guy never takes a break), the love he has for my Mom, it seriously just melts my heart (I hope Pat will still look at me like that in 30 years:), his willingness to take care of his family, his outgoing personality (we rarely go anywhere without him running into someone he knows), his determination, the respect he receives from friends/co-workers/aquaintenances, his faith in God and the fact that he has taught us girls to have that same faith. He has a heart of gold and I'm so proud and thankful to be his daughter. I love you Dad!