Heather’s dad has been there for her every day of her life.

My Dad holds me against his chest, cradling my delicate head; I’m not even a day old.

My Dad gets me to stop throwing a tantrum by pretending to have one too; should have got a photo.

My Dad works graveyard shifts even though he can’t sleep in the daylight; “Can’t you get ready for school quieter?”

My Dad never misses dinner, even if he can only stay for 10 minutes before getting back to work; “How was school today?”

My Dad convinces me to eat my broccoli when my mother can’t; “Four more because you’re four.”

My Dad reads me a bedtime story while my sister and I snuggle with him on the couch; “One fish, two fish … ”

My Dad kisses me goodnight on the cheek; “Now the other one so it’s even.”

My Dad introduces me to jazz; “I wanted to name you Thelonious if you were a boy.”

My Dad answers all my questions, even when he doesn’t know the answer; “I invented the paperclip.”

My Dad looks at me disappointedly the first time I return home past my curfew; “We’ll decide on a punishment in the morning.”

My Dad takes me backpacking for the first time while my mother and sister go to the spa; “Be careful. You have a tick on your shoe.”

My Dad calls up the high school in the middle of work when a teacher picks on me; “What did she do to get detention, exactly?”

My Dad figures out I’m gay even though I never told him; “Why does it matter if it’s called marriage or a domestic partnership?”

My Dad drives me to work once a week because I don’t know how; “I can find something to do in Salinas.”

My Dad patiently teaches me to drive even though he knows I hate it; “Your first time merging on a freeway was less frightening than your sister’s.”

My Dad hugs me goodbye at the airport before I leave for university again; “You’re going to come back with a Geordie accent.”

My Dad is happy that I still call him Daddy in my e-mails; “Dear He-He…Love Daddy.”

 

Read more Father’s Day stories on The Good Life.

—Photo credit:  jocelynsart/Flickr