Dear Dad,

Congratulations on retiring! You have said this yourself, but it has not hit you yet that you will no longer report back to Union Pacific railroad after working forty-one years, three months and a couple days (you were doing the counting, not me). You can now finally paint, write songs, travel, listen to Anita Baker, and read your bible in peace; Knowing that you can spend all of your time doing what you want from now on. We will no longer have to worry about paying bills, food, and paying for my school.

It was not easy to be the breadwinner of our family but you did it with all of your heart. As told by your coworkers, you never called working at Union Pacific your job, "This is Freida and Chloe's job", you would say proudly. You were never late to work and never missed a day excluding the time you were hurt on the job twelve years ago. After six months of healing your ankle, you arrived to the shop as if you only had left a day. You also ended up tearing your rotator cuff over time but will have surgery soon.

There is so much that I have to thank you for. I could never repay the deeds you have done for both me and my mother. You have shown me to always put God and Family first before anything else, even yourself at times.

Like mom, you also supported everything I did. As long as I loved doing it, you would too. Even when I changed my mind on a potential college major numerous times throughout high school. You always gave me the best advice, even when I did not want to hear it. "You'll learn", you would say when I disagreed; and I learned indeed. Whenever I needed a shoulder to cry on, you were there for me with arms to lay in and ears to listen.

After my mother passed away, I returned to those arms and ears. Excluding her family, you were the closest connection I had to her. We were the same height and had the same eyes (according to you), and I have your face. You told me that, even though she is gone, we will see her again and I should live my life to honor her. At first I did not fully understand what you meant by "honoring her". I made a memory box of her things but still felt empty. I then realized that honoring her meant to do things that would make my mother proud and fufill my mother's wishes for my life.

Once I started learning how to drive, you became my instructor and support when I got scared to drive. "Having fear us normal as long as you don't let it stop from driving". I can now drive on the highway, to the mall and may be a better driver than my friends.

All that is left to say is thank you, Dad. Happy retirement, you deserve it.

-Chlo