June 16th, 2008 by john 
in Categories: 
I know, everyone likes to brag about their kids! I just wanted to share this with you because I had such a wonderful day yesterday. I hope you did, as well.
My daughter woke me up yesterday morning with coffee, a sliced orange and steak and eggs. I began to wonder what was up when she said “Happy Fathers Day!” Not bad! She then informed me that I needed to be ready to leave at 11:00AM. Okay! Being that I am a bit of a history buff, she had arranged a private tour at a local historical home called the Francis Land House. It was originally a sprawling 1000 acre plantation built in 1805. It’s funny, I have lived in Virginia Beach all my life and have never visited it. Even funnier that it is 1/2 mile from my house and my neighborhood sits on the original land! Afterwards she took me to dinner at my favorite seafood restaurant. All said it was a great day.
What made it special was my daughters hand made Father’s Day card. She has a job, she could have bought one. And even though she is a miser like her Daddy, I’m pretty sure saving a few bucks had nothing to do with it. The card, with the cover pictured above, contained the following words with another hand drawn picture.
“To the dad who is always there to help or fix. Never says “no” to me (unless he wants to 
). Who is caring and funny. Through the rough times and the good times, you always end up being the #1 Dad. Thanks for everything you do, Dad!
I Love You, ”
It almost brought tears to my eyes again!
Along with the card, she gave me a shirt that reads “#1 Dad”, which I am wearing in the picture below. In fact, I proudly wore it all day. I got comments everywhere we went, “Hey dude I was told I’m the #1 Dad”. Yeah, well you’re not, I am, can’t you read? No I didn’t really say that, well, just to this one guy, but he was rude and deserved it! So, you could sort of say that I have been there, done that and got the T-shirt!
Our relationship is not perfect. I play parent first, friend second. We definitely do not see eye to eye on everything, she is a teenager after all! And, as she pointed out, I am not known for an automatic “yes”. But, at the end of the day, we love each other and that’s what counts.
The Francis Land Plantation House, in Virginia beach, VA. Built in 1805
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My name is John.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like a good father’s day to me. I don’t know what parent has a perfect relationship with their teenage daughter!? I know firsthand from observing my mom and my 15 year old sister. That’s awesome that she takes after your miserly ways though! My sister falls into the category of ‘teenage girls who believe the whole world revolves around their wardrobe and it doesn’t matter what it costs’! If only I could convince her otherwise…
I’m surprised I got to the comment box first on this one. In the short time that I’ve been following your blog, it’s grown a ton!
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What a great Father’s Day-you are a lucky dad. I wasn’t able to spend time with my dad but he did get to do what he loves which is golf!
Happy belated Father’s Day!
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Hi John, Wow! That was a lovely surprise your daughter planned for you on Father’s Day. That is what love is all about. Keep up the great work raising your kids. Glad you had a wonderful time on your special day!
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Wow John definitely does not sound like the kind of girl I wrote about in my celebrity blog. Congrats on raising a great daughter and being a great dad.
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Very touching. I love hearing stories like this. =0) Heartwarming and reassuring. We are both lucky indeed to have such loving children. Take care my friend.
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It really doesn’t matter what they have done in the past, kids do have a way to make parents happier. My little daughter spent 8 hours on Father’s Day Eve to draw for her dad a post card that says: ” Happy Father’s Day and I hope I don’t make you MAD today”. Each letter was in different color and she has made about 5 drafts before she settled on one. My husband was very happy. He is a simple guy. He never demanded any fancy stuff on his birthday or holiday. A simple gesture is enough.
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What a lucky daughter she is to have a dad like you. She obviously adores you otherwise why would she arrange such a special day for the two of you? Well done for raising such a cool kid.
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I agree, you seem like a great dad. My son is now 1 year and i have everything ahead of me and im sure it wont be easy. I guess some teenagers really get hard to handle:)
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John reply on June 20th, 2008 12:50 am:
Thank you! Yes, some teenagers are very hard to handle. I should know, I was one of them! Take care =)
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Thanks everyone! I don’t know if I’m a great Dad, but I am definitely a lucky father to have such wonderful kids.
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Awesome daughters are great. I have one myself.
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That graphic reminds me of that old guy from Seinfeld
“You think you’re better than me?”
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wow!.. so sweet..
me and my father are not that close but, we still see to it that we talk and have a great laugh everytime we are together.. I always treasure my parents and I love seeing them together even if there are lots of trials this past few months..
last father’s day.. I bought two tickets for the boxing event here in our country.. my father love watching boxing that’s why i think it’s one of the best gift that I gave to him..
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That’s awesome. You get back what you put in to kids, I think. Nicely done.
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