In honor of Father’s Day this Sunday, I wanted to write a blog post as a tribute to my wonderful dad. In the almost 20 years I’ve been on this Earth, my parents have given me some pretty awesome life lessons to carry me through. While my mom is an incredible human being, I wanted to take this time to share the life lessons I’ve learned from my dad!

• Laughter is the best medicine.

  • Whenever I’m feeling down about anything, I usually find things that make me laugh. My dad will usually say something ridiculous and make me break out into belly-aching laughter. It really is the best cure.

• Laugh at yourself anyway.

  • It’s taken me the longest time to muster up the courage to laugh at myself when something goes wrong. With my hearing loss, it used to be a very sensitive subject for me, until I learned that the best way to cope with something is to make it light-hearted. 

• Hard work pays off.

  • I’ve seen my dad work endless hours for most of my life to provide for his family. It’s instilled in me and my siblings a desire to create the life we want to live.

• Do it anyway.

  • My dad taught me to defy the odds and do something anyway. Even if people tell you that you can’t. Even if you don’t think you can. Even if you feel scared. Feel the fear and do it anyway.

• Embrace your heritage.

  • I am from a very Italian family. And with that, comes an extreme love for food. So, in our house, we embrace the fact that I am a food lover and that my dad loves to cook. Match made in heaven.

Dear Dad,

thank you for always teaching us to be the best version of ourselves. you’ve instilled grit and grace in us, and we now know that hard work pays off. thank you for always chaperoning our field trips and taking us on wild adventures. thank you for always making fun of me for always wanting food but then still making us the best dang food ever. thank you for appreciating and sharing my love for junk food, especially your homemade French fries and pizza. you’re the coolest dad I know, especially when you attempt to learn the slang of this era. oh! and thanks for always watching Friends, Cheers, and the Office with me! xoxo.

love you endlessly,

Sophia <3