Posted this on facebook. Just wanted to share with everyone.
To my Father and my Stepfather, whose triumphs and mistakes, whose words of encouragement and reprimand, whose undying love made me, for better or for worse, the man I am today. And to all Dads everywhere...
It matters not whether your children are yours by blood or by marriage.
It matters not whether they live across the street or across the world.
It matters not whether you see them every day or barely every year.
It matters only that you love.
It matters only that you care.
It matters only that you are there. That you were there. That you will be there for whatever their lives throw at them, to be their shield, their guardian, their mentor and their friend, dispensing wisdom or laughter or even the painful truths that are rarely revealed.
For when the time comes, those of use whom you've watched go from tiny, handheld things, wailing in the night, to grown men and women with wailers of our own, we will be there.
We will be there when you're old.
We will be there when you're grey.
We will be there when the final breath leaves your body and takes you away.
Because, to us, you have mattered.
Because, to us, you will always matter.
Because, to us, you matter.
You matter.
From your son, with love unrelenting.
-Jake G. Carroll
To my Father and my Stepfather, whose triumphs and mistakes, whose words of encouragement and reprimand, whose undying love made me, for better or for worse, the man I am today. And to all Dads everywhere...
It matters not whether your children are yours by blood or by marriage.
It matters not whether they live across the street or across the world.
It matters not whether you see them every day or barely every year.
It matters only that you love.
It matters only that you care.
It matters only that you are there. That you were there. That you will be there for whatever their lives throw at them, to be their shield, their guardian, their mentor and their friend, dispensing wisdom or laughter or even the painful truths that are rarely revealed.
For when the time comes, those of use whom you've watched go from tiny, handheld things, wailing in the night, to grown men and women with wailers of our own, we will be there.
We will be there when you're old.
We will be there when you're grey.
We will be there when the final breath leaves your body and takes you away.
Because, to us, you have mattered.
Because, to us, you will always matter.
Because, to us, you matter.
You matter.
From your son, with love unrelenting.
-Jake G. Carroll