Fathers

Lately I've been addicted to listening to Butterfly Fly Away by Miley Cirus. My favorite line, you were always there when I looked back. I am a daddies girl right down to my worn out boots. When riding my bike he was there behind me, every time I looked back he was following me. He taught me how to drive. We would sit on his lap and steer from the time we were old enough to crawl. One time I steered us off the road...a little, but he never yelled just grabbed the wheel and steered us back.  He's one of the few people who have stuck up for me no matter what.  When everyone said you can't he was there saying "show 'em how you can." He has always been philosophical in his own way giving me advice. whenever I think of my dad these words come to mind "do the best you can, take your foot of the clutch put your foot on the gas, and just keep truckin'." Ultimately my favorite is, "slash don't stab cause you'll get your knife stuck."
 I've been trucking for twenty years, to make him proud. It breaks my heart when he tells me he is the proudest dad in the world.  I know that I can do so much more then what I've done.  Its hard to imagine somebody can think you are already so perfect that you can do no wrong. Especially in a society where we strive to make ourselves into something we are not, to attain perfection.
Everyone has always said, including my dad, that he didn't want children, and that having them was terrifying, I believe it. As soon as he became a father he was transformed. He is the best dad in the world, he never once put his needs above ours.  He always included us, he said "we had children to keep them with us, not let someone else raise them."  We were included in every major decision.  We went on every bike ride, every camping trip, every restaurant, party, drive, we were always there. Maybe that is why we are so opinionated we always had someone to listen to us and someone to complain to.  I've been called stubborn I don't know how many times, and my favorite line, "you are just as stubborn as your father." I don't think we are all that stubborn, we just know when we are right, know when we want to quit, and like things our way. If you don't like it there's the door.
Little girls depend on their fathers.  I did-there wasn't one spider I had to kill, not one.  In the middle of the night he was always there.  In college in the middle of the night he was always there on the other line, telling me stories and getting me through sleepless night after homesick day. Sometimes I wish my parents would not have been so great, then leaving would be so much easier. He has always carried his kids in his wallet, and never passes up the opportunity to brag about us, and show us off.  I wish every child had a father as good as mine.
Parents shouldn't have favorites but lets face it, who wouldn't pick me as their favorite child.