My father famously convinced me out of going to college in Wisconsin, despite agreeing to fly to Madison to see it. He nearly convinced me out of taking my first job out of college at a young and up-and-coming firm, but in a rare moment of adult confidence, I didn’t take his advice and did my own thing. If there is anyone I ever feel the need to impress, it’s my dad. His stamp of approval can sometimes feel like the most important one. I often see mothers and their young daughters and think about how much I hope that one day I’ll have a little girl because it seems there is no closer friendship. But it is my relationship with my dad that reassures me how strong a bond a father and a daughter, a parent and child of the opposite sex, can have.
My dad was the first man to buy me roses. He has never stood me up on a dinner date, not once. He helped me negotiate my first salary, and every salary after that, so that I always knew how much my work was worth. He knew all those boys in high school and college were fools, not worthy of my time, but he never stood in the way of my mistakes. He once drove 14 hours in one day to pick me up from school. He always brings a box of Costco supplies to my house, saying, “I thought you could use some food!” He thinks that everything I bake is the ‘best thing ever.’ He always tells me my hair looks great. He gave the best father of the bride speech anyone will ever hear at a wedding (let’s just say it lasted more than 5 minutes, included a contact I wrote in the 3rd grade, and people still talk about it to this day).
He has never disappointed me.
I won’t lie, my dad and I don’t always have the perfect relationship. We argue about everything under the sun, and tend to disagree about everything from politics to how to vacation (though, we stand united when it comes to religion). But, sometimes it seems, the more we fight, the more we love. And at the end of the day, I can’t really imagine having a better dad.
This Father’s Day happens to also be my mom’s birthday, so there’ll be some double celebrating going on. I was thinking about all of the things my dad enjoys, and how he might want to spend Father’s Day, and I realized that my dad would probably choose to just have me make him some tasty breakfast goodies, have an espresso, show me some of his newest tech gadgets and stylish accessories, then do his thing on the grill, drink wine and talk and talk all night.
