I know that the 18 years you’ve raised me

Have never been easy

I made many many many mistakes

Countless decisions have been made

That chipped away at our trust

Your heart never did change

Even when I made you angry

And I believed that I could never redeem myself

You assured me that I could

Reminded me that you love me

You never gave me quite the wrong look

And saved me from a world of pain

You smiled at me when I applied to drive

And hugged me when I fell and cut my knees

From riding a bike

A silly younger me

You watched me self sabotage

Let me learn my own lessons

And made sure I was safe

You worked hard no matter your feeing

Even if motivation was lacking

Because family is everything

I know that things won’t be the same

One less person at the dining table

To make jokes while you eat

I know that it’s scary and honestly pretty crazy

That I am all grown up

But believe me

I could never have done that

If you gave up

On me

You didn’t seem to bat an eye

When I told random things about my life

And you helped me through hard times

I love you Dad

I’ll do you proud