Daddy's girl

Today is my Dad's birthday so I'm dedicating my thankful post to him.  My Dad is the best.  He's always been so supportive, pushed me to be the best that I can be, and held my hand along the way.  As his little girl, I think he's pretty protective.  I'm the youngest, after all, and I'm the little girl who, just four months into her life, had major heart surgery.  He was the most important man in my life.  Until T came along.  And then my Dad, proudly, gave my hand to T's in marriage. 


I have inherited many a trait from my father.  My sense of humor.  My stubbornness.  My consistency.  My independence.  He's always been that strong person in my family and in my life.  And I always have known I can count on him. 


I'm not going to lie, as a little girl and into my teen years he did scare me just a bit.  Something about being the Dad gave him this aura of toughness, the disciplinarian, the "just wait until your father gets home" factor.  But as the years have gone by, we seem to have grown closer.  I email him more often, I go to him with my problems and concerns, and despite the fact I have T in my life, when I have car trouble, he still is one of the first people I call. 


This past year, he was particularly strong for me.  The day we went to the cardiologist and found out that there was a possibility I couldn't have a child, he was a pillar of support for T and me.  During my pregnancy, it was the same thing.  He was willing to step in the day I had to go to a routine visit to the cardiologist when T was unable to get out of a work meeting, and he kissed me on the forehead as I waited for the nurse to take me into an emergency echo-cardiogram after being told my heart rate was 144 and I needed to be checked to make sure my repair was not at risk of rupturing.  


No matter how old I'll get, I know I'll always be his little girl.  It wasn't any more evident than the day we had Aubrey.  I think he still gets flashbacks to the day he and my mom handed me over for surgery as a baby.  As the nurse was prepping me for the c-section, just minutes before I was ready to go, he got all skittish and nervous.  "I need to get some coffee," he said, quickly leaving the room before I had to walk to the OR.  I seem to think it wasn't the coffee.  But maybe that's just me.


He's so loving with Aubrey, so proud.  He's a wonderful father and an even more wonderful grandfather.  And as much as I grumble at T whenever he does something that drives me crazy reminding me of my father (they say you always end up marrying someone just like your dad), I am so lucky that I have found someone just like my Dad.  Because he's a wonderful man, so why wouldn't I want to be with someone who his like that with me? 


So today, I am thankful for my Dad.  He doesn't know I have this blog but I still wish him a very Happy Birthday!  Love you Dad!