I Have A Dad Who Watches Over Me...



Family Easter photo 1984. What a crew.

Dad visiting me backstage before my final performance of "Guys and Dolls"

A few thanks for my dad...

Thanks for holding my hand at the edge of the Grand Canyon when I was too scared to walk out there by myself. I'll never forget the first time I took in the view I would have missed had you not been there to give me a little extra courage.

Thanks for never giving us money for doing well on report cards. School was so important to you, but getting good grades was just what was expected of four smart kids like us. You were always really proud but now I can see why you never rewarded us "doing our jobs".

Thanks for renting that limo to take us to the airport the first time we visited LA. I was a 7 year old celebrity for 45 minutes. It was better than Christmas.

Thanks for being SCARY mad at me on my first weekend home from college when you found a few extra rings and a bar in my ear. I'll never forget you telling me that you and mom had made too beautiful of a child for me to go "putting unnecessary holes and permanent weird shit" (tattoos) on my body. It never happened again.

Thanks for not wasting time changing out of your business suit when you got home from work before practicing my hook-shot with me in the driveway. I always thought it was your Clark Kent/Superman impression, but really you probably knew I needed those extra minutes of sunlight to get that move down.

Thanks for waking us up in the middle of the night to go on adventures: Walking through Times Square at 3am in our pajamas; Dragging ungrateful teenagers out of bed at 4am to drive to Cape Canaveral for a shuttle launch; Leaving for the beach at 2am so we could beat the rush and stop at our favorite pancake place; Walking through the woods of White Rock at god knows what time and then turning off the flash light for just a second to scare us.

Thanks for teaching me to drive... and to curse at bad drivers and traffic.

But most of all, thanks for showing me for 24 years how a husband should treat a wife, how a father should mentor his kids and how a family should take care of each other. Family was always the most important thing in your life- no questions asked. And while no family is ever perfect, ours still is pretty great.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

I love you and miss you every single day.

Love,

Melinda Anne