Even though my dad had his struggles, I knew he did his very best to provide us with what we needed. It’d get us through the week or months. My dad was raised by a single parent. My lovely grandma Eva (I will talk more about her later). He also felt how it was to be raised by a single parent. I knew he did his best to show love and how hard it was to play both roles as mom and dad.

I remember the time my brother and I were really into the guitar (80s music really had an influence on us back then) and we wanted to learn but we had no guitar. We expressed to my dad we wanted to learn how to play. That week he surprised us with an electric guitar before we went off to school! We were so hyped about it, we self-taught ourselves that morning with the spare time when created.

When my dad had extra money, he would treat us out. He would take us to Hometown Buffet, Denny’s, Norms, McDonald’s, etc. We had this thing called “Midnight Run” where we would go to the nearest 7/11 to grab snacks. Then come home and watch a movie. Midnight Runs were our favorite! There would be times he would take us to our favorite places. At the time, Guitar Center was the place to be. We would have a blast messing with the instruments. Playing with guitars, keyboards, and bass. My favorite thing to do was go to the room or area where they kept their Gibsons because Slash was my favorite guitarist at the time. I don’t know how my dad did it. He had to keep an eye on 4 kids.

One of the things I do appreciate from my dad was when I was pursuing a music career, my dad was there to support me. He took me to my first audition, he encouraged me to sing whenever possible, encouraged me to make videos while I’ll sing, encouraged me to do talent shows, etc. Singing at the time was everything to me and he knew that. I didn’t realize back then but now that I do, I appreciated his support more than anything.

The one thing that my dad did for us that will stick with me forever is the effort he would put in to spend time with each kid after a long day of work. I remember he would choose a date and time out of the week and he would write it in a little card. In the card, he would include a little drawing of a clown with a clock or a balloon (I kept those cards as long as possible because even at a young age I knew my dad wouldn’t be here forever). When that time came, we would either go out for a walk to catch up or would agree on something we both wanted to do. Granted, it probably only lasted 2 weeks or a month but those were moments I cherished.

He might not have given us everything we wanted but he gave us all that he could. For you single parents out there, I know you work hard. You work day and night to give your kids the best life possible. There are times you probably felt unappreciated, you might have felt like giving up but remember, you’re deeply appreciated and we care. We also don’t forget. It stays in our memory. I know I’m not the only one that has done this but we lay in bed thinking about you and all that you’ve done for us. We have bold ones that know how to express their emotions out there and would come out and say it the next day about how much they love and care about you. Then you got us, the ones who show through little gestures. Like, bringing you a cup of coffee, bringing or making you breakfast, visiting out of the blue, a random phone call or video chat, watching a TV show with you, or just hugging you at a random. Always remember that we love you and we care. I hope all the I love yous your kids or grown adults say bring plenty of smiles to your face. We deeply mean it. Just know, if we can, we would give you the world back. We love you!

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