...is a guy's guy, the all American, a jock. He is confident, outgoing, brave, tough. He is a bull in a china shop, a 27-year-old with skinned knees from playing softball with his friends. He comes home with grass stains, rips in his pockets, and stains on his shirt. Your daddy is stubborn as a mule. He has an opinion and he sticks to it, and he is not afraid to share what he thinks. He has jumped out of airplanes and traveled the world. He can talk to a stranger and make them his friend. He drinks heavy beers and opens his bottles with a lighter. He lives at the Golf Course. He likes to hunt...and sometimes fall asleep in the deer stand. You have a daddy that is still an invincible little boy at heart. I have never seen him scared (except for when we had bats in the house), nervous, anxious or intimidated.
And then he met you.
Yes you, Charley girl, got Eddy Forrest's heart to melt and turn into a fluttering mess. You pulled his heart strings and wrapped them around each of your teensy fingers. His eyes light up when you smile, he gets worried and a little nervous when you cry, he is already anxious about the idea of you being 16. You have shown him how to be goofy and silly again. You have made him leave work at work. Last weekend when we picked you up from an overnight at Grammy's he raced me to the door, because he wanted to hold you first. He started wearing pastels with pride instead of--Emily made me do it. He takes pride in his diaper changing skills. He is already pricing pink golf clubs and a pink shot gun (seriously). He is planning our trips to Greenville for next season's Pirate Football. He has this new found peaceful grin at his girls, his little family.
Watching him watch you is falling in love all over again. Daddy's and daughters have a bond like no other. It is irreplaceable. You will--unknowingly--compare every boy you ever date to your good ole dad. I know I did. There you have it sweet thing, that is your daddy.