Dedicated to Dad

Just a quick note for the man who's literally been there for me my entire life.

Happy Birthday to my Dad!!  I love you so much!  I hope your day is fantastic (and I hope you bring your A game when we celebrate with poker night this weekend!)

Thank you for being the best Popaw my kids could have asked for.  Who'd have thought that guy getting thrown out of my softball games for screaming at the ump, would end up being a big softie who can't say "no" to long-lashed little boys.

You are and will always be the man I've loved the longest.

Thank you for not freaking out when I got pregnant with Trenton and wasn't married.  Then shortly thereafter becoming his hero and securing your place as mine.

Thank you for showing me what kind of man a husband should be (so that I could try, then try again to find him, lol).

Thanks for practicing pitching with me for HOURS when I was 16 and just wanted to talk on the phone with my friends and the boy-of-the-week.  And sorry about all those toenails you lost because I picked up how to throw a drop ball pretty quickly.

Thanks for helping me sell 300+ boxes of girl scout cookies by pimping them to your work friends.  That 7 inch, black and white tv I won was AWESOME (at least to me)! 

I appreciate that you and mom made me play sports.  I'm thankful I didn't grow up on a couch cushion.  I appreciate even more that you came to every game and coached the team, more often than not.

One of the scariest moments of my life was when you had your heart surgery.  I remember that day as though it were literally yesterday.  Thanks for changing you lifestyle so I don't have to feel that way again any time soon.

Thank you for loving me enough to disipline me when I skipped school/talked back/lied/didn't do my school work.  And thanks for always assuming that was the trouble with my grades and not thinking I'm stupid.  Although, let's face it, when it comes to math, I'm freakin' stupid! 

Thank you for driving to the hospital with me and Trenton when he was 18 months old and had the Rotovirus so bad he needed an IV because he was so dehydrated (since his father was too busy sleeping).  And thanks +1 for staying in the room with my sweet little munchkin when I simply couldn't handle it anymore and had to go cry in the hallway.

I 've never known the loneliness of being completely unsupported and disregarded.  I wasn't a child people around me pitied.  I grew up singing silly songs, smiling for pictures, and slightly spoiled {but not too much to be appreciative}.

I was loved.  So thank you, Daddy!  You're loved without question or condition, too!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!