Relationships with our parents can be complicated. Until teenage or young adulthood, we sometimes view our parents as these indestructible, larger-than-life beings.
Until, suddenly, we grow up and realize that they're human too, experiencing their first life just like us.
We feel close to our friends, siblings, and significant others because they're right there experiencing life with us, and we're more likely to verbally share our appreciation for these people.
Sometimes vulnerability is more challenging with our parents.
But, parents deserve to hear how much we appreciate them.
Especially Dads.
This is the easiest way to tell Dad you appreciate him:
Put it in writing.
Here's how you do this:
1.) Find a moment, phrase, or memory that has stuck with you.
2.) Grab a piece of paper & a pen (or, Dad, I Want You to Know)
3.) Start with "Dear Dad"... and write him a note to let him know what this has meant to you throughout your life.
4.) Fold it, seal it, send it.
Here's an example from one of the Hear Your Story team members:
"When I flipped through Dad I Want You to Know for the first time, I saw a prompt about a life lesson that Dad might have instilled, and I instantly thought of the phrase: "Don't say I can't, say how I can."
There isn't a phrase that has stuck with me, or shaped me more than this one.
I didn't realize the impact of this phrase until I left home for the first time and went to college. When things in my apartment inevitably broke, or plans went awry, I found myself wanting to seek for a solution, refusing to accept things at face value. I was always the last to give up on something.
My dad taught me this lesson, over and over, and it's become an inherent part of me.
Without something to prompt this thought, I doubt that I ever would have told my Dad how big of an impact this little phrase had on me.
He definitely deserves to know.