To my dearest father,

I hope I tap into your heart and your tear ducts with this. Although you are not the fondest of me right now, today is a special day for you, as well as myself and the family. Today is your birthday. The day you were brought to the face of this Earth by your dear mother.

Wow, all these years of experience, wisdom, and most importantly life. If it weren't for this day, May 11th, me and my siblings would not be here today. As much as I act irrationally, radically, and spontaneously, I never mean to hurt your feelings. You brought me to this planet. I fully understand that you want to take very good care of your offspring. You don't want to see any of your kids failing at life. You may think that I shrug off all your lectures, but I soak them in.

You've come so far in life and I can't afford to lose any bit of golden advice I can get. I may not apply them right away, but they swarm my thoughts. I always think to myself, "What do you think dad would say/do about this?" prior to making my decisions. Yes, 99.9% of the time it results in me acting dumb anyways, but you have the right to be mad. You always tell me things to help me and believe me, I'm always thinking about it.

Anyways, I would love to thank you. I want to thank you for everything. Thank you for giving birth to me. Thank you for loving me when I mess up. Thank you for loving me unconditionally. Thank you for being such a strong support system. Thank you for not making me a spoiled brat and making me work for things. Thank you for all your lectures. Thank you for yelling at me when I do something wrong. Thank you for all the laughs you give me. And most importantly, thank you for dedicating your life to our family.

Your work is not as appreciated as it should be. I would have not gotten this far in life if it weren't for you. I know I don't show as much love or appreciation as I should, but I am beyond grateful to have you. In fact, I wanna be just like you. An established, successful adult with a beautiful family. You are one of the most powerful men in my eyes. The road you took to get where you are was rocky but you persevered, and that speaks volumes to me.

Not only that, you're such a hard worker, as well. I'm in a phase right now, but I'm looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. You're in this dark tunnel with me, holding my hand and navigating the dark with a flashlight. There comes a point when the batteries in the flashlight die, and you let go of my hand to return home.

I'll be on my own soon, and thus far you have given me so much knowledge and life lessons. This will make my way out of the tunnel much easier than having to stumble upon rocks in the dark. I can't write down the amount of gratitude, love, admiration, and appreciation I have for you.

You're amazing, Dad. So here's to another year, another month, another week, another day, another hour, another minute, and another second basking in your presence! Here's to a million more years, Pops. Here's to more love, more laughs, and more life. Happy birthday, Dad.

Lots of love,

Rana