See how you have touched this life.

Dear Dad,

I have called you more often recently because I have finally realized how close you are to my heart. It's not that I ever misunderstood your significance or even desired not to know you. Rather, in preparation for marriage as well as graduating from college, I have determined that there are a rare few people who know me and care for me as well and you and Mom do, and of late I've often thought about what it must be like for you two to have watched a life from beginning until now, and knowing that you each have an integral part in not only creating but nurturing that life. And sometimes as I drive my car or wash the dishes or put on my shoes, it will suddenly astound me; the depth of emotion you must feel about such a gift, and I realize that how difficult it must have been for you two to let me go when I was thirteen, and then eighteen, now, and then in the future when I'm thirty-seven, and fifty-three.

But be assured. You never have to "let me go". You and I, we are simply transitioning once again. Just like the time I began walking. And when I first started riding my bike alone to tennis practice. Or when I started driving and coming home later than you'd have liked.

The cliches, the phrases I roll my eyes at, the impending emotions between father and daughter on her wedding day. All of these things are beckoning me to explore them, explore how you and I fit them, discover how we are more alike than not.

I love you, Dad. I miss you, as you miss me.

You are ever close to my heart and for God's sake, I do not want to miss out on life with you.