Gracias, Padre

Once my birthday and my mom's had passed this past week, my dad decided that the days leading up to Sunday would be appropriately deemed "Daddy Appreciation Days."  My mom, brother and I had to repeatedly remind him that like a birthday, or any other single day holiday for that matter, Father's Day is a single day holiday that is celebrated on-you guessed it-a SINGLE day of the year.  That's not to detract from all the other days we appreciate him, but there is a certain reason that one day out of the year we all take some time to appreciate our fathers.  And today, I'm going to do just that.

There's only so much that can be conveyed in a Facebook or Instagram post because, sadly, according to my friends, the holiday turns into "(Happy) See-What-Other-People's-Dads-Look-Like Day."  Lucky for you (and me!) that I have this blog, which is arguably a superior form of social media, to tell the world just how great my dad is.  Dad, today I want to say thank you for the following:

• Teaching me how to drive.  I know that this was a life-changing experience for both of us, and one where I am pretty sure we both learned a lot of great lessons such as patience, listening, and appropriate usage of tone of voice :)

• Running my first half marathon with me.  I had admired the way that you so carefully trained yourself to run a race of such a great distance that I just had to follow along.  I'm really grateful that you slowed down to keep with my pace and let me pass you with .1 left to go. 

• Going to every single event for us kids.  Every cross-country meet, dance recital, football game, chorus concert, school play, etc. there you were with that video camera of yours, capturing every moment.  Even though it meant some early mornings and drives across town-or the state for that matter-it always made us proud to see you there in the stands cheering us on.

• For teaching me to love football and how to deal with unreliable sports teams.  Because of you, I am the smartest among my friends when it comes to football games and can usually call every play before it happens...genius, right?

• For starting the Abel Family group chat in which you initiate conversations with your cute little Bitmoji picture.  Side note, I still laugh at the fact that you took that little guy so seriously and how identical he looks to you.

• For being the master of the grill.  Nothing against Mom, but the way you whip up burgers, steaks, chicken, corn, etc. is just so succulent, which makes Sunday nights my favorite dinner of the week.

• For having an amazing knowledge of pop culture in regards to movies and music.  As annoying as it sometimes may be, I live for the moments at dinner where we can whip out a scene from a movie or TV show and go through it as if it were our own conversation.  The way in which you can quote Legally Blonde and Meatballs is astonishing.

• For never being too hard on us when we weren't around for your special day.  I'm sure it was never easy giving up your day to move us kids into camp or having to drive the nine and a half hours back to Jacksonville, but Mom says she thinks you took it quite nicely each time.  I sure am happy to be here for it this year!

• For working so hard for our family.  I think that's a given, and we don't say thank you enough every day for it. 

 Thanks for everything, Dad.  I know that one day isn't nearly enough to appreciate you for all that you do for us, but it's one where 100% of the attention is placed on you.  Let us join together tonight and celebrate what we think have been the best 22 years of your life.