DearDad，
DearDad,
TodayIwasattheshoppingmallandIspentalotoftimereadingtheFather’sDaycards。 TheyallhadaspecialmessagethatinsomewayoranotherreflectedhowIfeelaboutyou。 YetasIselectedandread， andselectedandreadagain， itoccurredtomethatnotasinglecardsaidwhatIreallywanttosaytoyou。You’llsoonbe 84 yearsold， Dad， andyouandIwillhavehad 55 Father’sDaystogether。 Ihaven’talwaysbeenwithyouonFather’sDaynorhaveIbeenwithyouforallofyourbirthdays。 Itwasn’tbecauseIdidn’twanttobewithyou。 I’vealwaysbeenwithyouinmyheartbutsometimeslifegetsintheway。Youknow， Dad， therewasatimewhenwewerenotonlyseparatedbythegenerationgapbutcompletelypolarizedbyit。 YoustoodononesideoftheGreatDivideandIontheother， fatheranddaughtersplitapartbyageandexperience， opinions， hairstyles， cosmetics， clothing， curfews， music， andboys。TheFather-DaughterDuelof ’54 shiftedintohighgearwhenyoutaughtmetodrivetheoldDodgeandIdecidedIwoulddrivethe ‘54 Chevywhetheryoulikeditornot。 ThepoliceofficerwhoescortedmehomeafteryoureportedtheChevystolenlateoneeveningwastooyoungtounderstandfather-daughterpoliticsandtoooldtohavemuchtoleranceforasnotty 16 yearold。 Youweresodecentaboutit， Dad， andIthinkthatwasprobablywhatmadeittheworstnightofmylife。