Wednesday was my Dad’s birthday and given that this Sunday is Father’s Day I thought I’d take the opportunity to tell you all just how much I love that man.

I was recently talking to someone about ‘Dad Jokes’, you know those cheesy one-liners and cringe-worthy punch lines that make you roll your eyes and exclaim ‘oh my gosh Dad!’ Well I admitted something – secretly I love those! Sure, I wouldn’t pull them out in a social situation as a way to demonstrate my sharp and witty sense of humour but as lame as they are, when I my Dad tells them I can’t help but giggle. I still roll my eyes, but I’ve now come to realise that when he delivers these pearlers or daggy-dances around the kitchen to a song of ‘his generation’ he is doing it to make me smile, because he loves me and wants to see me happy. What more could a girl want?

There are two memories that stand out to me when I think about my father, both from my childhood.

The first is the time that we went to Movie World. Aside from all the usual rides and junk food, my Dad took my sister and I on the Warner Bros studio tour. We thought it was pretty cool getting to see how all the ‘movie magic’ was done. And then it got cooler. The tour guide started asking for volunteers for the finale of the tour. Lots of other kid’s parents were putting their hands up and getting picked. ‘Quick Dad, put your hand up!’ my sister and I urged. A little hesitant at first, we nagged and nagged until he did and luckily, he was the last to get picked.

We filed in with the rest of the group to take our seats, giggling about what daddy might have to do. We couldn’t believe it when our Dad came out, blue lycra suit and all to fly through the air on the big screen dressed as Superman! If that’s not a lasting image for a girl of her daddy, I don’t know what is! My sister and I looked at each other wide-eyed gasping with delight – our daddy was Superman!  We may have also giggled a lot at him being in a tight lycra suit – he wasn’t exactly a small man. But we definitely had the best story about our school holidays than all the other kids at our school.

The second is Saturday mornings in the McWhirters building. Every Saturday morning without fail, my Dad would take my sister and I into the Valley to the McWhirters building where he would let us play the slot cars. After we’d had fun playing those for a while we’d sit down, him with an iced coffee my sister and I with iced chocolates. Topped off with cream, ice cream and a chocolate stick we thought we were princesses getting to have one of these (at all really) but particularly in the morning! It’s funny, we did this EVERY  Saturday morning for years (or so it seemed, it could have only been months) and yet every time, the novelty never wore off and we both still couldn’t believe that we got to play slot cars and drink these naughty drinks!

You may think playing slot cars is an unlikely outing for two little girls but that’s the awesome thing about my Dad. Oh sure, he let us be girls – we’d sit at his feet at night, one on each side while he brushed our hair for us over and over again. But he also taught us to be strong, informed and independent girls and exposed us to a lot of other things as well. Because of my Dad I will never be a damsel in distress, I will always have the basic knowledge to make sure my car is running reliably and the resourcefulness to be able to fix things and put furniture together. I get a kick out of using a screwdriver and I began to fully appreciate what he had done for me when I had to show one of my ex-boyfriend’s that in order to put oil in your car it did NOT go in the dipstick hole.

My parents were divorced when I was younger and although it was a hard time I feel very lucky to still have the family I have now. My Dad has always been a big part of my life despite not living with us. He’s always been there, always supporting me and always giving me great advice or just a shoulder to cry on or a sympathetic ear.

He is my Dad, and he may not be a great dancer or the world’s best comedian but I love him anyway.

More than words can express.

In fact, I love him THIS much