Full disclosure: I love being a parent. Granted, parenting has its times of struggle. Over the years, I have experienced fears and concerns that threatened to rob me of joy in the process. I have experienced moments of frustration and disagreement also. But the ongoing times of joy, pride, and celebration far outweigh any negative moments. Still, I have two beautiful adult daughters who continue to add joy to my life. As I recall their years of growing up, I realize that I need to thank them. They helped me become a better person as we journeyed through our lives together…and I continue to become a better person through their involvement in my life today. So let me give you thanks.

• Thank you for enjoying life with me. We have enjoyed music, food, play, and more together. I am so grateful that you were, and are, willing to share life with me.
• Thank you for teaching me to listen more deeply. You opened me up to better know the value of patiently taking the time to listen and understand. You helped me understand how easily we can misunderstand and the power of listening to reach understanding.
• Thank you for expanding my horizons. I have seen more of life than I had ever dreamed possible because of you. I have experienced more music, more ideas, more people, more places than I ever would have without you. You have “opened my eyes” to many aspects of the world I would have missed otherwise.
• Thank you for helping me clarify my values and priorities. Sometimes you did this by asking questions; at other times by pushing against those values I do my best to exemplify. Most the time, however, your mere existence forced me to clarify my priorities and values. Your presence compelled me to examine my values as more than lofty ideas but as a lifestyle in which my everyday actions and words needed to match my beliefs for all to see. Thank you. 
• Thank you for laughing with me and for making me laugh. I find great joy and happiness in the memories of laughter we have shared and in the assurance of future laughter I know we will share.
• Thank you for celebrating with me. We have had and will continue to have wonderful celebrations for whatever reasons we can conceive of.
• Thank you for teaching me about parts of the world (places, people, ideas, information) that I knew little about. I enjoy learning from you and have learned things I would have never known in a thousand years if not for you.  You both traveled (sometimes far away and sometimes near) and came home with wonderful stories of amazing places and beautiful people. I love to hear those stories about your experiences in the world.
• Thank you for including me in your “worlds.”  I sit with “wide-eyed joy and anticipation” to witness concerts, talks, or writings of which you are a part. When you were little people often referred to you as “my daughters.” Today, I feel pride when people refer to me as “your father.” It is a joy to become known first and perhaps only as “your father” as I step into “your worlds.”
• Most of all, thank you for your love. Knowing you love me means the world to me. Thank you for expressing that love in little everyday ways. Thank you for sharing your lives with me. Thank you for your love.