To my favorite Veteran:

These past two days I have thought a lot about you.  Before I say what I am going to say I would like it if no one got too mushy over this because I plan on expressing my very deepest feelings about my daddy, but just so 30 years down the road my kids know how good I had it.

I am the luckiest girl in the world.  Even luckier than my two sisters. In a talk written by Elder L. Tom Perry titled Fatherhood, an eternal calling, Elder Perry warns us about Satan's attack on the family.  He says things about what a father needs to be successful in our fight against Satan.  Here's the things he says that my dad has already excelled in: "head of the family"... you don't mess with dad! "Must lead in family worship"... I don't think there's anything in the gospel that I couldn't ask my dad about and he wouldn't be able to teach me.  Plus he's the least judgmental person I know, and living with three daughters thats a very important trait to have, so anything anyone needs advice on or just to talk to someone about he's there.  "The father is a teacher and temporal provider"... He's a genius, hard worker, and gives all he can to still provide for our family even though the circumstances make it very hard.  I admire the strong will he has to get up to go to work every day.  "Gives fathers blessings" needless to say that has been a huge blessing for all members of my family.  "In this church the man neither walks ahead of his wife not behind his wife but at her side." Not only are my parents a good team but my dad is a great support to my mom.  Overall I think its safe to say that Satan has lost in his battle against my dad.  Not that life has been easy, because we all know it hasn't, but my dad has stuck it out better than anyone could have asked him to.  Sure it'd be easy to give up and let the pain take over, but not my dad. He's a trooper.  And I even have concrete details to support my conclusion.  :)

Which brings me to the next thing I would like to say.  My dad had a stroke when I was 13 and I am grateful for it.  I'm sure my dad is shocked that I just said that but I will explain myself.  That life changing experience strengthens my testimony of the atonement almost every single day.  Sure it would have been nice to have him be completely healthy like he was before, but except for his own sake, I wouldn't change anything. On Saturday night I was at walmart and I needed to make sure I had all the ingredients for what I was making on sunday.  Mom, Tara or Erin wouldn't answer their phones but daddy did.  I don't think that any Father would know where to find a specific recipe, but Dad looked for me.  He looked for a while and couldn't find it but I was more confident that I had everything I needed. He told me how sorry he was and that he had failed me as a father. That makes me so upset!! I can't ever find the words to convince him otherwise so I hope this will do the trick. On Tuesday in devotional Sister Clayton bore her testimony about our Heavenly Father's perfect love.  I had been upset because I hate hearing my dad say that he thinks he's failed me because that couldn't be farther from the truth, and the spirit of course taught me an extremely valuable lesson.  I learned that upstairs I have a perfect Father who loves me.  He knows me better than I do.  He is there for me no matter what it is that I need.  Well here on earth I have a father who is almost as good, but if he was I'd feel pretty bad about myself.  I already feel like I'll never measure up to my parents, imagine if they were perfect all the time! No, what I need is an imperfect father to teach me.  I luckily have a father who has made mistakes that can teach me through those, a father who will learn lessons along with me. A father who has faults that I can learn from.  A father who has challenges that strengthen my testimony and that give me the opportunity to be strong for him.  I am so unbelievably blessed.

My dad teaches me life lessons that keep me sane, help me prepare for the future, give me courage to be myself and push me to be the best that I can be.  What else could I ask for? So next time my dad says that he feels like he's failed me I'm going to refer him to this page right here and then ask him to retract that statement.  I don't have the emotional maturity to tell him this every time (or the breath man this is long) because I get too emotional in wanting him to know how much I love him.  I have been blessed immensely from my Father in Heaven and my father here on earth.  I wouldn't have asked for anything different and I am grateful for the opportunity I have been given to grow from my circumstances and I hope that I make all of my parents proud.   I am grateful for my father's service in the marines and the sense of pride it has given me of our country.  I am grateful for the eternal perspective that the gospel gives me and the immense joy I feel everyday! Life IS good!