When I think about my dad. Well he’s just such a dad.

He is dependable. He is there when you are in a bind. I have been in a car accident while working in Cleveland and also experienced my first flat tire while working. And my first thought both times was as long as I got ahold of my dad it would be ok. With the car accident he was there within 7 minutes. With the flat tire he left a meeting.

He is our photographer. He captures our memories big and small. We have so many photos and hours of video to look back on because dad is always there with the camera. Brandon ran cross country and Lex played volleyball in high school. I was never the athlete but there are photos of me working on my art projects. Looking back at those photos means so much because I don’t know that many people that have pictures of them sketching or painting but I do.

He is our handyman. Whenever something new goes wrong with the house dad is always there to help us out. When I was 9 months pregnant our furnace broke and dad went out in a snow storm to get us the piece to fix it.

He is my tour guide. I have had two places of employment since I graduated college and dad was very familiar with both buildings. So when I was interviewing he gave me very detailed maps and on my first week he showed me short cuts through the buildings and took me to lunch.

He is creative. When we were kids he planned scavenger hunts for our birthday presents. We would wake up to clue 1 the morning of our birthday and run around the house looking for more clues and eventually finding our gift from mom and dad. Although we no longer do this for our birthdays in the recent years he has started doing it on Christmas Eve for us.

And although he would never admit it…I am his favorite. He even has a mug that says so.

Happy 56th birthday dad! Thank you for all you do. I love you.