Today’s my dad’s 60th birthday. I’m so emotional right now but let me brag on him real quick because he is the best part of my life. I cannot even articulate how much I love him. First off, my dad is the only man I’ve ever met in my entire life.

When my mother died, my dad became a single father of four (two step kids) and never folded, was absent or complained. He has always held down the family fort and has been the center piece of my household, period.

My dad has been to any and ALL events I’ve been apart of since birth. He has been to every game, play, activity, award ceremony in rain, sleet or sunshine. My dad would come to the opening of a champagne bottle if I was hosting it. He’s always been there for all my big events.

My dad has never imposed expectations or gender norms on any of his kids. Never told me I had to grow up to be a doctor or lawyer, never forced me to abide by gender roles and never gave his unsolicited opinion on my life. He always supports whatever I want and choose to do.

My dad has paid for education without being asked. He paid for my tuition for undergrad and said he wouldn’t pay for grad school. But once I got into Columbia, he folded and split it with me lol. My current degree is free but he was prepared to pay for it too.

My dad has gotten me to and from school for every break, holiday or just because I wanted to go home. He would drive 5 hours to PA to pick me up and 5 hours back home without complaining, just because I asked. Sometimes 6/7 times a year.

*SO IMPORTANT* My dad has believed me and supported me whenever I came to him about being assaulted. He’s never questionioned me, never victim-blamed me, never questioned the authenticity of my story, period. He 100% believed me off rip, and I am SO grateful for that.

My dad has been very influential in me with going to therapy and counseling and of course offered to pay for it. He gave me numbers of counseling services, got a random brochure about counseling once and gave it to me lol and told me to let him know the cost if I needed his help.

My dad will drop everything at a given moment if I call him and ask for something. I remember once I called him and mentioned that I ran out of almond milk and he came to the house with milk. Whenever I need something, he will do everything in his power to get it.

My dad will find me/come to my rescue like a superhero. I remember once I got off the bus in NYC at the wrong stop. I briefly described to him what I saw, my phone died, and this man FOUND me in 30 minutes with no GPS, no direction and no clue. Still shocked about this.

If it can be fixed, my dad will fix it for me. I complained about my key getting stuck in the door lock and my dad done got oil and lubricate for the key hole. He then told me to try my key to make sure it worked. And then redid everything because my key got slightly stuck.

My dad is so attentive. If he knows I’ll be coming back home for a reason, he buys something I like to have it in the house. Whether if it’s my favorite cereal or fruits or peanut butter, he makes sure I have something to enjoy.

My dad is ACCOMODATING. I’ve been a meat eater, then only poultry, then a vegetarian and now vegan in the span of 13 years lol and he went from buying burgers, to ground chicken, to pasta to now buying a raddish or vegetable SEAMLESSLY. Always holding down my dietary needs.

My dad doesn’t give a FUCK what I wear or do to my body and thank God. He’s never told me a dress is too short, to put on less makeup, to change my hair or said anything about all my piercings. He lets me do me and doesn’t speak on women’s bodies. Take notes males.

My dad is cultured. He made sure that we understands history, and every year growing up we took family vacations to some historical area/landmark and got tours. We even stayed in a cabin in Virginia once that simulated what the union soldiers slept in

My dad is selfless. He has no materialistic desires/wants. If he ever spends a dime on himself, he will get sneakers or a T-shirt from Walmart , IF THAT. He gets zero joy out of having earthly possessions, and is happy just seeing his kids happy. I hope I got this gene for real.

My dad apologizes. SIKE lol he has BIG stubborn Leo energy But, ONE time I did approach him with a story from child and he felt like he didn’t do his job as a parent. He told me he’s sorry he failed at his job of protecting me and ended up crying about it. This was important.

My dad has played a father figure to almost all the women in my family. From my older to younger cousins, to my nieces, my dad has been everyone’s dad, even walking them down the aisle when their biological dads were present. My nieces call him “daddy” instead of grandpa.

My dad is BLACK EXCELLENCE. He is a Black man who grew up working class, and is now an engineer making six-figures. The only one of his siblings to own a house. Raising the next generation of Black excellence with two of his kids going to ivys (we brag different bitch).

There’s so many more things, I’m just soo blessed to have him as a dad. It’s really unbelievable, I don’t know what I did to deserve this life. Theres no way I can ever pay him back for everything, but on God I’m gonna go so hard for my dad yo. Can’t imagine my life without him.