My girl

My little girl isn’t so little any more. She’s sixteen today. I know it’s cliche and dumb, but she’s growing up to be a beautiful woman and it’s all going way too fast for my liking.

I’ll never forget the day I met her and how incredibly large my heart felt that day. Just when I thought I couldn’t love anyone more than her mom, here she were to prove me wrong. She had me wrapped around her little finger since that first moment and ever since.

She used to be my little helper. No matter what the task, no matter what I was doing. She was always right there beside me to hand me a tool, hold something for me, or just be there beside me.

No matter what, no matter how bad a day I was having, I’d come home to see my little curly-headed goofball and I’d feel better.

We’ve had all sorts of adventures together. Camping, fishing, boating, swimming, traveling, sight-seeing, dancing, astronomy, animal husbandry, pet training, biking, computer programming, woodworking, painting, cosplay, and creating special effects make-up, there’s not a thing we haven’t tried together over the last sixteen years.

Now, she’s growing up and stretching her wings a bit as is usual with growing up. She’s always off doing something. Working, dance class, hanging out with friends, driving, dress shopping, and all the other things that sixteen year olds are doing. There’s just not as much time for dad anymore as there used to be. 😢

Regardless of how much time we spend together or not, I know for a fact that she’s the reason I know I did something right with my life. She’s so amazing!

Since the first time I taught her to fish, she always wanted to do it herself. She baited her own hook for the first time and hasn’t slowed down since.

From there she picked up so many hobbies and skills, it’s difficult to recall them all. Water skier, boat driver, dancer, make-up artist, cheerleader, band-nerd, color guard captain, snack-shack food attendee, rock wall climber, jock, goth, gear-head, welder, artist, animal lover, aspiring football star, ramen noodle connoisseur, Skyrim Queen, foodie, and altruist, there’s not a thing she can’t, won’t, or doesn’t do all on her own. Dad was just there to get her started in the right direction and she took over from there.