.happy birthday dad.

thank you for

starting every voicemail with

"Hi... this is your Dad! I love you so much!"

(multiple times a week.

every. one.

starts with,

"I love you so much!".)

thank you for

talking about the Beatles so much

that i assumed our family friend John

was John Lennon

until I was like, six;
and that once you tried to understand how i feel during worship music at church
by comparing it to how you feel listening to Paul McCartney.

thank you for

thinking i am so much more

beautiful

smart

and funny

than i really am.

it's so great... please don't stop.

thank you that

every time someone says something nice about one of us,

instead of saying,

"Oh, thanks."

or

"Well, I'm glad she's polite for you",

you say

"I know! Isn't she wonderful??!!"

thank you for

your excellent one-liners

even in times of tension.

a particular recent favorite:

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to be so upset!

I said 'go to therapy', not 'go to hell'!".

classic.

thank you for

always wanting to hear

what i'm learning in school

and being so so excited

i am going into psychology.

thank you for

going to the same restaurant

for lunch

every single day

and ordering the same thing

every single time

for years and years.

the servers love you.

the manager loves you.

and i love your steadiness and predictability.

i am slightly concerned that if they ever close,
you will starve to death.
but we can worry about that later.

thank you for

teaching us that you should always

tip at least 20%.

thank you for

printing and mailing out to all of our friends and family

a Christmas card which read

"Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All, and Don't Forget To Vote Democrat in 2012!!".
you're ridiculous.

and i love that you and mom taught us to be concerned for the needs of the voiceless.

on the Christmas front,
thank you for
making sure, should anyone be giving out prizes for most unique Christmas Eve,
we would have won this year.
with your careful selection of our cozy family movie to watch:
Lost in Translation
(wikipedia's explanation: "explores themes of loneliness, insomnia, existential ennui, and culture shock against the backdrop of a modern Japanese city.")
you're right,
White Christmas or A Miracle on 34th Street
would have just been cliche.

thank you for

this line in an email,

which i just found when i was looking for pictures

and made me crack up:

"Life should be a frolic, at least in spirit, if possible while meeting our responsibilities."

...duly noted.

thank you

that our best dates have always been and will always be

hanging out for hours in a bookstore.

thank you that
every time we see a family with little kids
you always say
"don't you remember that?
you were like that yesterday!".
still.

thank you for

being so, so thrilled with your present from me this year,

a trip for the two of us to take,

even though you, um, have to pay for it.

i feel so lame,

and yet you really are so thrilled.

it's pretty cute.

thank you that
you read Sherlock Holmes to me
as bedtime stories.

thank you for

the only good advice i've ever heard

for a miserable emotional 8th grader.

you sat with me at the kitchen table as i cried

in thirteen-year-old woe,

holding my hand and looking even sadder than i was,

saying over and over,

"I promise, this too shall pass."

i still try to remember it

on the (extremely rare) occasion i'm ever emotional now, too.

thank you for

your response to the email

i sent you and mom during my cognitive therapy class this fall,

which read only:

"acceptance and commitment therapy is so how you guys parented us".

you wrote back immediately,

"Yay! Thanks Em! We love you soooooo much!"

assuming i had clearly meant it as a high compliment.

('acceptance and commitment therapy'

is a technique defined by increased

"awareness of the here and now, experienced with openness, interest and receptiveness".)

number one,

we are the weirdest family i know;

number two, thank you.

thank you for

loving

the Beatles

Abraham Lincoln

the Beatles

Seinfeld

the Beatles

bike trips

the Beatles

Chipotle (which you pronounce Chi-pote-LAY even though your pre-teen and teen can.not.believe.you.ohmygossshhh)

the Beatles

nature

the Beatles

and us.

(i do know you love us more than the Beatles.

i respect their place as a strong second.)

happy birthday!!!

i love you sooooo much

and i am so glad you are mine.