Hitting the Jackpot

One day per year, those of us lucky enough to have fathers in our lives take the time to acknowledge them. 

I must admit that I've been exceedingly fortunate to have a wonderful dad with whom I have a great relationship.  While he wasn't one to change a diaper when I was growing up, he did fix a lot of broken dollies and was always willing to rock me and sing to me when I got the occasional boo-boo.  I never doubted that my dad loved me and still loves me despite my many shortcomings. 

Now that I have my own daughter, I have a new appreciation for the special relationship between daddies and their little girls.  And I have an even greater admiration for my husband.  When you marry somebody, you have an idea in your mind of what being married to them will be like.  And if you're lucky, the reality reconciles with, or even exceeds, your expectations.  The same is true when you decide to have a child.  I was admittedly more reluctant to undertake the serious responsibility of bringing a child into the world than Brian was.  He was excited about it and assured me that we would figure it out together and that I would be a good mom.  He never seemed to need reassurance that he would be a good dad.  He must have already known what he was capable of.

I could make a list a mile long of all of the things Brian does for Zoe.  But it would not do justice to what Brian IS to Zoe.  He is arguably the best daddy any little girl could ever hope to have.  And while she doesn't realize it now, I hope that one day Zoe will realize she hit the daddy jackpot. To Brian I want to say, thank you.  Thank you for being better than I could have imagined at the most important "job" you will ever have.