I am Grateful for...Daddy

I am grateful for my wonderful Daddy. In the Jillibean household September 11 doesn't equal somberness and tragedy it equals the celebration of our patriarch's birth! Daddy's birthday! Regretfully for him, his 40th birthday will always be tied to tragedy, but we try to live it up anyway!

Daddy is the best Daddy ever. It must be hard for him because he's got three girls and was outnumbered in our house 4-1. He endured countless chick flicks, enormous back to school shopping bills, late night sleepovers with giggly girls, 6 prom dresses and countless homecoming/snowcoming dresses, Lizzie Maguire, and lots of tears with smiles and love.

He bought us Legos and remote control cars, but was OK with the fact that we much rather enjoyed playing with Barbies and baby dolls. He coached our softball teams and cheered us on at tennis matches, sat out in the cold at band performances and sat outside the fitting room when we tried on prom dresses, giving compliments when we showed him "the one."

When we hit middle school he instituted annual camping trips with each of us. Each girl got to pick where we wanted to go and we've have a weekend, just the two of us. We camped near amusement parks and national parks. We swam, played mini golf, had campfires, took walks, tried to think of things to talk about during the 2+ hours from home to the campground. It was great. At the time sometimes it was a little weird, some years we wished he would forget about it. But looking back those are such great memories. And I know that he was doing it to bond with us and because he loved us. Now we've got lots of great pictures and memories of those camping trips.

In high school we (the girls) fell in love with the Tigers which gave (girls + Daddy) a common passion. I love talking and watching baseball with Daddy, going to games, etc. It gave us something to talk about during phone calls from college and it gives us lots of chances to hang out at games and every night when we watch games on TV. I am grateful for baseball, for bringing me closer to Daddy.

The week before I headed off to college, Daddy took me out to dinner, just him and me. We just talked and ate and he gave advice. Get Involved. Try New Things. Don't Be Afraid to Go Outside Your Comfort Zone. Good times and so sweet.

Now I get to see Daddy be a Grandpa, which is so fun! He's so great and sweet and loving to Emma. It's a whole new side of Daddy to be grateful for. I've never really seen him around babies, because I was too young to remember anything about when Lil Sis was born. He's so good around babies!!

Happy Birthday Daddy! Love you loads!!!