my guy.

ever since the accident
i have always made a point
of penning letters
for our sweet girl
because it is important to me
that she know.

what i have failed to do
at least with regards
to this corner in the wires
is write to you
and now seemed
as good a time as any
on this father's day
to do
just
that.

with all honesty
when i saw you
standing across the way
over eleven years ago
i didn't see a white dress
or a sold sign
or two big dogs romping through a yard
or wagons
or teacups
or the blonde curls that have taken over our world.

i saw a man
that i was certain
i had no future with
but whom i was hopeful
might share a cigarette with me.

not long after
that first cigarette
there was the flirtatious smile
you would throw my way
long talks in mall parking lots
and soon
a kiss
that would change my world.

and now here we are.

you and i
have learned
more than some
that this thing called 'life'
has more detours in it
than we ever anticipated.

from rich to poor
in sickness and in health
for better for worse
we've moved through them all
sometimes fiercely as one
sometimes pushing the other along
and sometimes dragging one another
along
just to get to the other side
together.

i have always been proud of us.
for we have faced the obstacles
that would send other couples
running in opposite directions
and in a world when marriage is taboo
and divorce is the trend
we have balked at society
and held tightly
to one another
even on the slipperiest of slopes.

and every day i love you more.

as if that weren't enough
you then gave me the one thing
i didn't realize
was the one thing i was missing
the one thing we were missing.

you gave me her.

and there isn't a hallmark card
nearly enough
to express my gratitude for that.
there isn't a gift
worth nearly as much
as the love of our family.

you are
without question
an incredible daddy
and while i'm taking this opportunity
to tell you that
i hope you know
that i
that we
think that every
single
day.
nothing fills my heart with joy
more
than watching her face light up
when you walk into a room
and seeing yours light up
in return.

there are no words
that could ever truly describe
the love
a man has
for his little girl.

thank you for being my guy
and for being her daddy.
we are the two luckiest girls in the world.

happy father's day.