They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone, but I miss my dad and I've never even met him. While I don't know quite a lot about him, I just know that he was a special man who loved his family, music, baseball and books. He was in the Air Force for a while. He didn't graduate from college. He was smart. He was witty. He was an individual; one of a kind. There is just so much I've always wanted to tell him, so many things I want to discuss with him, so many things he didn't get to experience.

I wish I could tell him how much I love him. I wish he knew how much I admire him, even though I never knew him. I admire his strength, his intelligence, his sense of self, his taste in music.

I wish I could tell him thank you. For bringing me into this world. For my mind. For the ways that I am like him: my wit, my mannerisms, my looks. For leaving behind the legacy he did. For contributing to my love of music.

I wish he could have been there to see me throughout my life and throughout my sister's. I wish he could have taught me how to drive. I wish he could have seen all the musicals, the recitals, the graduations. I wish he had been there to see me get accepted into college. I wish he could have been there to share in all of our accomplishments.

I wish I could share my writing with him. I wish that he could see me grow as a writer. I wish we could have conversations about the books we read and the music we listened to and the movies we watched and everything. I wish we could have had the chance to have a relationship, to make special father and daughter memories. To go to a baseball game. To one day kick back and share a beer.

I wish he was there when I needed to vent or a shoulder to cry on. I wish I could tell him about my day and my friends and the things I did. I wish he'd been around to help me with my math homework. I wish he'd been there when I needed advice.

I wish that he could be there to give me away on my wedding day. I wish that he could be the one to walk me down the aisle to where my future husband is waiting for me. I wish that he could be there to meet his future grandchildren. I wish that he and my mom had more time together.

I could go on and on forever. But most of all, I just wish he was here.