I have been a daddy’s girl since the day I was born. I look like him, I talk like him, and I act like him. My dad is one of my best friends. I value the relationship I have with him in ways I can’t even begin to describe.
As a daddy’s girl, my father has taught me some of the most valuable life lessons I’ve learned. While I learned some of these lessons from talking to him, I also learned them just from watching him for the past 21 years. Here are five lessons I can never thank my dad enough for.
1. If someone cares, they’ll show it.
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I am currently 21 years old and a full-time college student. If I mention feeling under the weather to my dad, he’ll be on campus before the week ends. If I say I’m missing my dogs, he brings them for a visit or sends me tons of pictures. If it’s a weekend and he knows I’ve had a stressful week, he makes the drive to drive another hour to our favorite breakfast spot. For as long as I can remember, my dad has shown me that caring about someone is about action, not words.
2. Little acts of kindness make the world spin.
(Photo by Matt Collamer)
My father is the kind of man who will pay for someone’s meal just because, but he doesn’t let anyone tell them. He holds the door for groups of people and greets each one. He makes himself available to help friends, family, and associates because he realizes that the world is full of hate and he wants to add some love.
3. Work hard, love harder.
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My dad is a workaholic, a trait that my brother and I have both acquired, but for as hard as he works—he loves even harder.
4. Learn what’s wrong for you so that you can learn what’s right.
(Photo by Kelli Stirrett)
In relationships, in jobs, in everything that I’ve done my dad has been supportive. He doesn’t see my shortcomings as failures, he sees them as me learning what’s wrong for me and that means I’m just getting closer to learning what’s right. This lesson has been the most prominent throughout college.
5. “What a man says, he must do.”
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His favorite quote. A quote that inhabits everything that he does. A quote that I didn’t realize the importance of until I started to really learn about the world. A quote that has attributed to my definition of a man because all anyone has is their word.
My dad is the most important man in my life. He is the reason why my expectations are so high. He is my biggest fan and there aren’t enough words in the world to characterize the person that has loved me so fiercely throughout my life. He isn’t perfect, but I couldn’t be more thankful for him.
(Photo by Danielle Jones)