Happy Father's Day, Daddyman!

For my sweet Daddy,

I wanted to save this letter for Father’s Day. I hope you didn’t think I’d left you out. I missed the past two Father’s Days because I was at camp, but this is the first Father’s Day that I’m spending with someone else’s daddy. It’s kind of bizarre being abroad and having a father figure. This whole year I have lived with family where the father wasn’t present. But living with Cacho, Silvia, and Lula here in Laboulaye, I have a father to compare to you. And in that comparison, I miss you and appreciate you more than ever.

Cacho is a really nice, funny man, but he’s so dedicated to his work; He spends all of his time in the office. We only see him at meal times and on the weekends. Apparently it’s always been like this, even when his children were younger. He never makes time for his children. He doesn’t care about their sports games or their school plays. He doesn’t even care to take his wife out to dinner every once and a while or to go see live music. While he is very responsible, and a hard worker, he is not who I would consider a family man, a daddy.

Dad, you have always been so involved, so supportive with Haley and me. My favorite memories of you are from when I was a little girl. You came to as many of my sports games as you could. Track meets, baseball games, basketball, soccer, swim team. I’m sure you missed a few games, but that’s not the memory that I have. When I remember swim meets I think of the splash of the water, the heavy smell of chlorine, the thrill of adrenaline, the warm summer air. But mostly, I remember hearing your voice yelling “GO BEAN!!!” whenever I came up for a breath.

You’ve always been our playmate. You build couch cushion forts with us in the old house. You raced boogie boards with us at the beach. You threw pop flies for me in the backyard and you screamed louder than anyone at Warthogs games. And even as I’ve grown up and only come home on occasional weekends, you delight in renting movies for our family to watch together. I love that you’ve never ignored us. You’ve never been too old to play.

Vacation Man, you organized all of our trips. You took us to Disney World, to New York, to Lake Tahoe to California, and to the beach every year. I remember when Vacation Man and I took a road trip to Tennessee. I remember when we locked our keys in the car and when Vacation Man was clever enough to get the door open with a coat hanger. And I remember standing there, looking excitedly at the bag of Cheetoes (a special roadtrip treat) on the floor of your maroon Honda.(Let´s be clear that I was somewhere between the ages of 3 and 6, for anyone who doesn´t know this story.). When I was twelve years old (or was I eleven?) you took me to Chicago on a business trip. You made that trip magical. Cookies were specially delivered to our hotel room with my name on them. We wandered around downtown Chicago and just enjoyed being there instead of being stressed tourists trying to cram sights in. We had were serenaded on the “L” Train, we stuffed ourselves full of baby back ribs, and we got an excellent caricature done of us. Vacation Man you’ve taken me many places, and you’ve helped me develop a love of traveling and planning. And for all of the places that we have gone in the USA, that trip to Chicago stands alone as my favorite.

There are so many things that you did that other daddies wouldn’t have the time of day for. You became an official Girl Scout so that you could go on our trips. You build a fort and swing set in our back yard. You let us paint your underwear in the back yard. You blew kisses and hugs over the phone every night before we went to sleep when you had to live away from your family and work in Charlotte. You have helped me move in to every dorm room I’ve ever lived in. You taught me how to drive a car.

I feel like I had to really leave home to fully realize how much I love and appreciate every member of my family. And for this Father’s Day, I want to thank you for being so special, for being so unique from other fathers, and for being so important in my life.

Thank you for still calling me nicknames and for treating me like your sweet little baby.

Thank you for always making me feel safe and supported, from “Daddy’s gotchu” on the changing table to driving me to the airport and letting me take this trip.

Thank you for being the person I can always count on with financial questions and important future-deciding decisions.

Thank you for taking pleasure in doing something that many men (especially in Argentina) lack the effort and talent in doing: cooking.

Thank you for going on roller coasters with me and for taking us camping (even when I thought I hated it.)

Thank you for teaching me the value in laughing and making faces during an argument.

Thank you for showing us – and the world – how a truly wonderful, loving daddy should be.

In just two weeks I’ll come home and get to laugh and watch movies with one of my favorite playmates. So, SKEEEEZIX!! I’m ready to come home! I love you so much Dad!

Happy Father’s Day! See you real soon!

Love,

Your first baby, Beeeeeaaaaaan