daddy's girl

Every time, for as long as I can remember, when I tell people I have five sisters and no brothers, they always have the same response "your poor father." I would always just laugh it off and awkwardly walk away (I mean how are you supposed to respond to that when your seven?!), but now that I am older and not naive enough to believe that I am the perfect daughter anymore, all I can respond is "yea, my Dad rocks." Both my parents, as far as I am concerned, are saints for putting up with all six of us, and I am so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful relationship with both of them. As I have said before, my mother is my best friend. Her advice and her unconditional love has been my rock for 19 years. What I haven't mentioned enough though is the other piece to the puzzle, my daddy. 

Every little kid's hero is their daddy, for me though, that never changed. Through everything that has ever happened in my life, my dad has been my rock, my voice of reason, and the constant voice telling me that I can accomplish anything. Between the endless dance competitions, school events, and tests I needed to cram for, my dad was always there cheering me on even though it was the last thing he wanted to be doing. Every morning growing up he would come into each of my sisters rooms and kiss us goodbye before he went to work. This seemingly small gesture is one that meant everything in the world to me when I was younger, and still does today even though the kisses stopped when I moved out. Every morning I could count on him to be there, count on him to check on me first thing in the morning, and if by some chance I was awake (usually nervous about something or scared after a nightmare), he was there to sit on the edge of my bed and tell me that everything was going to be okay. In the end I knew everything was going to be okay because my dad was there to take care of his girls, no matter what else was going on in his life. 

I never realized how blessed I was to have a father who both worked and made time at home until I went to college as I listen to my friends and classmates talk about how their dads were always gone for work. I am so proud to say that my dad and I are incredibly close even though he has a full time job. First and foremost he has always been dad, he just happened to be a dad that wore a suit a lot :) He left every morning usually before the sun came out to be Bob Hau, but every night by dinner time he was back to being my sarcastic and often smartass dad. A dad that answers every question with "do you know who I am" and texts me random pictures of himself from across the room. One that tells me to suck it up when I do something stupid to hurt myself, but will follow me upstairs when I go to cry in my room so that I am not alone. 

My dad is my hero in every way, shape, and form. He has taught me how to follow football, how to jump a car, and everything in between. His relationship with my mom and the way he treats us girls have provided an incredible role model for me, and with that, incredibly big shoes for any boy to fill. I may look more like mom and not quite understand his fascination with the business world, but I am such a daddy's girl and don't plan on that changing anytime soon. 

Happy Father's Day Daddy! I know I don't say it enough, and when I do you usually ask me what I want, but thank you so much for everything you have given me. Thank you (and mom!) for working your ass off for the last 25 years so that I could go to Marquette like you and give me everything else I could ever need. Thank you for being home even when there is work to do at the office and thank you for calming all my fears all those mornings that I woke up when you walked in. Thanks for being my hero, I love you.