Daddies and Daughters- A Father's Day Tribute

The first love every girl has, is her father. He is the man we look up to (in my case, literally.  He's 6'5" and I'm well....short!)  He's the man who dries our tears, and chases away the monsters at nighttime. He will have a tea party with us and pretend to enjoy it, kiss our boo-boos, teach us how to ride our bikes and throw a ball. He will give you a nickname that only you and he laugh about.  He's our protector. 

He will threaten his teenage daughter that any boy who hurts us will answer to him.  He will wait up until we get home just to make sure we get in safely. He will teach us how to drive although four-letter words may escape every once in a while and he will continuously hit an imaginary brake on the passenger's side of the car. He will always put your needs before his own. If we are lucky enough he will be at graduations, weddings, and the births of children. He will lovingly gaze at his grandchildren and tell you they remind him of you when you were little. He will dry your adult tears when you are hurting and remind you that no matter how old you are, he will always be your daddy. There is a special bond between a father and a daughter that only the two can understand. 

Coming from a family of four girls, my dad's long standing joke with us was that he told each of us privately over the years, "you are my favorite daughter." Wow, what an honor! Imagine the surprise when the four of us, as adults now, finally figured out that there was no actual "favorite" but he made each of us believe we were to him! 

My dad wasn't exactly the chef of the family, but there were a few dishes that were his specialty. He was the champion breakfast maker. He would even go as far as to get up extra early when my sisters and I were in high school to make us an omelet or pancakes, complete with warm plates so it wouldn't get cold as we primped to go to school. One of my favorite dishes that my dad always made was his breakfast of a "hole in one."  Many people may call it by another name but its basically a piece of bread with a circle cut out of the middle, cooked in a pan with an egg in the center. The secret? Butter. If you want a mediocre hole in one, you'll wimp out and use cooking spray. If you want the real deal?  Cook that baby in butter! 

Whether your dad is with you physically on Sunday or in spirit, take time to remember and celebrate his day. Remind your little ones to treat their father with kindness and respect (of course moms, too but hey, Sunday and this blog is about the dads!) Dads may not always be THE BEST but they will always try and DO the best they can...never forget that.  So Happy Father's Day, Dads!  And to my own Dad, thank you for always being a constant in my life....see you Sunday for "hole in ones." I'm cooking!