To be a Father...

A letter from My Beautiful Daughter Amanda

Dad,

What a journey we've had.  Across countless highways, state lines, and even oceans, we've gone far together.  With you by my side I have stood in the shadow of castles, lain in a field under star-scattered skies, explored tangled forests, listened enthralled to improvised stories, soared through the air while you shouted "UNDERDOG!" beneath me...and I've been dropped on my head, dragged through a parking lot, kept at home with a broken finger, and had my head cracked open.  The point is, through good and bad you were there, the compass guiding me through mountains and valleys alike.  I cannot browse my memories without seeing your face at every fork in the road, at every significant moment I can remember.  I cannot browse my memories without smiling.
I know the blessings with which God has flooded me.  In my few years I've never known poverty, feared for my safety, and most importantly, never once doubted that at least someone loved me as much as a person can.  Instead I have known tenderness and laughter, joy and security, adventure and wonder—so much experience crammed into so short a time.  Granted, I know it's all a gift of God's grace, but I passionately believe that you were and continue to be one of the principle means of that grace.  How have I known wealth except by your hard work?  How have I known security except by the sense of protection you give?  How have I known adventure if not by your sacrifice of time, taking me romping and riding through English countrysides and American cities?  How have I known such faith that I am loved—that I am loved by the Father—if not by experiencing love direct from my earthly father?  I recognize God as the source, but you have been the gift itself.
We have been all over the world physically, and through countless trials emotionally.  We have experienced laughter and tears, certainty and doubt, triumphal shouts and defeated whimpers.  We have basked in the glow of a sunset over the tree line, and blinked in the brilliance of a sunrise over a lake.  We've swum in the ocean and ridden horseback over an island.  We've gasped at fireworks, sipped coffee in the morning, ate ice cream in the afternoon, battled against the forces of computerized evil, and lay side-by-side with a book open before us.  Honestly, I treasure the video games and stories as much as the oceans and European adventures.  The older I get, the more I realize how true that cliché is:  it's not the places you go; it's the people who go with you.  
My life has been magic—a bona fide adventure.  The "big picture" of these 19 short years makes me ashamed of every complaint I ever let slip.  That big picture isn't of London or Paris or oceans; those things are there and beautiful, but they are only the backdrop.  The picture focuses on people:  family, friends, mentors.  And front and center, there's my mom…and my dad.  Where they have—where he has—always been.

Happy Father's Day