happy birthday Dad

dear Dad,

I am not a perfect person. I have quite a lot of faults:

I get angry super fast
I'm OCD about dumb stuff- like how doors close and the sound on the TV being an odd number
I'm not patient with people I don't like
I control conversations a lot (thanks Mom!)
and I can be pretty self centered.

the one major aspect I got from you is the ability to work very hard. you don't seem to know any other way of living other than keeping busy and doing what needs to be done. these are some other things about you that I love.

I loved getting to go to work with you. how many 5 year-olds get to go to work with their dads? especially their dads who own their own businesses? I learned at a young age the huge difference between a nut and a bolt as I sorted countless ones for you while you worked up high changing broken springs. I learned screwdriver varieties and the importance of WD-40 for everything.


I love how you are the quiet calm in our family. I never realized until TV shows and movies taught me differently, that dads are supposed to be annoying buffoons who watch sports all night and drink beer. after working a long 8-5 day, you came home home, washed dishes, sometimes cooked dinner, and watched whatever the family wanted to watch when you finally sat down.

I love how you are both smart and wise. sometimes I'm afraid to be alone with just you because I talk constantly, and there is always silence with you. but that means I trust whatever you say to be worthwhile and usually true, even when I don't want to hear it. I remember my cousin Allison asking me to be the flower girl in her wedding and I just cried all day long because I wanted you to come home and tell me if I should be in the wedding. I can still remember having to lean up on my tip toes at my window to see if it was your truck pulling into the driveway.

mostly, I love you for the example you are of a man to me. you were the first boy I ever loved, even before I fell in love with my cousin. I have never worried a day in my life that you would stop loving Mom, even when you guys yelled at each other passive aggressively about being late. Mom has so many weird quirks but you always love her for and in spite of them- giving me hope that someday someone will do the same for me. you let me be a daddy's girl and work you a little to get what I wanted, but you were also the disciplinarian when needed. all of these qualities as well as so much more make me want to find someone as great as you (although maybe someone who doesn't like to wear short shorts quite as much as you do).

happy birthday Nicky Joe Haas. your #1 daughter loves you.