I missed Father’s Day this year because I was busy. (That whole miscarriage thing can really put a dent in your holiday plans). I have not forgotten my dear ole’ pop and I wanted to acknowledge and be thankful for the person my father is. So Dad, Happy Father’s Day.

1.) Humor. My Dad is REALLY funny. He definitely leans more towards “dorky-dad-humor”. You know those puns and jokes that leave most people groaning, but it doesn’t matter because he thinks they are hilarious. My dad has this great laugh, that starts at his toes and comes out as an unabashed roaring “HA” that nobody can ignore within a tri-state area. There are days when I wish we lived closer and on those days that is what I miss most.

2.) He’s smart. My dad is an avid reader and I am grateful everyday that this is a quality that I inherited from him. He’s naturally curious and has always encouraged us to find our own answers to life’s questions. He is a critical thinker, and has always wanted his children to question everything and everyone. Unfortunately this quality has come at the sacrifice of his common sense and lack of social awareness. My father has an ability to be completely socially inappropriate and say the absolute wrong thing at the wrong time. So, if he has offended you I say “I’m sorry” he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

3.) He doesn’t know that he has daughters. I think the best gift my father gave me was not recognizing that girls were different than boys (outside of trash responsibilities which he never made my sister and I do). If I had told my father that I wanted to join the Army, be an astronaut or become President of the United States he was supportive. It never dawned on him that perhaps my opportunities or potential might be limited by my sex and if this social idea was even mentioned he found the whole thing to be “rubbish”.

4.) He honored my mother. Women marry men like their fathers and my father always showed my mother respect, care and love. Of course he also did the normal father things of leaving his shoes on the floor, crumbs on the counter after making a sandwich, watching the TV too loud and spending hours at a time sitting in a room with my mother and not talking to her. BUT, he loved her.

5.) He was patient. Okay, for those who know my father you are going to find this last little bit shocking. Indeed my father is known for screaming like a banshee at his inability to find the salt shaker. On several occasions my mother has had to physically restrain him from starting a fist fight over a parking space at the mall. I’ve seen him lose complete composure because the phone is ringing and he cannot find the “talk” button, and I have yet to go to a fast food restaurant where the food came fast enough. BUT, when it comes to the really, really important things my father has infinite patience. My father seemed to be very good at giving us the space to make our own decisions, to not always jump in and fix things.

Most of all I’m grateful that at 37 I still think my dad is pretty awesome. I still find him to be one of the most interesting people I know and when I find myself struggling with a decision he still gives me the best advice. He has been and always will be my toughest editor and I fully expect that after reading this he will have some advice on how I could have made this less wordy.