Dear Dad,

With school coming up so soon, I constantly worry about how you are going to feel on move in day. Only a few weeks left until I live somewhere without you and Mom. While I worry about Mom crying, I tend to forget that you’re saying goodbye too. It’s not like you are saying goodbye forever, or even until December. I will visit, and I am just in town. You and I are saying goodbye to the way things have always been.

I look back and think about all the memories that we have together. The games we’ve played, and the horrible jokes that you’ve told. We have had great times as a kid, but moving into this new (and weird) adulthood chapter in my life leaves me longing for the days of "Littlest Pet Shop" with Winston, Peepers and all of their friends.

While we have our share of arguments, you still are a great influence on my life. You are the best dad I could’ve asked for. You have done all of the fatherly things that one thinks of when they think of a father. Now, I know that you are prepared to take care of mom, but someone needs to take care of you too. You two worked so hard to make sure I grew up kind, loved and empathetic towards others. I can never thank you enough for that. You taught me to be strong, be brave, and to love everything and everyone in my life.

While this chapter is closing and we are moving onto a new place in all of our lives, I want you to know that I don’t plan on changing. I will still come home and do puzzles and make really bad jokes. Perhaps this difference will end the arguments over ridiculous things. Mom is right, I am a lot like you in many ways.

While this is not how you probably envisioned your life turning out, here we are. As we hug and say that goodbye before I go to live in a place that is not yours, remember all the fun we have had and all the fun we have yet to have. Camping, Fishing (you still haven’t taught me to fish), and so much more.

Although it will be a hard time for all of us, I want you to celebrate. You officially raised a tiny human to work amongst society and is intelligent enough to go to college just as you did. Congrats! I know it wasn’t easy, and I sure didn’t make it any easier.

So as we say a goodbye at the doorway to a new time in all of our lives, I wanted to personally thank you. I tell Mom often how much I love her and how much she has helped me in my life, but I don’t say it to you nearly as much as I should.

So, I love you. Thank you for everything you have sacrificed to make sure I was happy.

Love,

Your college-bound daughter