I don't need to beat around the bush; things haven't been great.
I've spent the majority of the last couple of years unwilling to trust you, or spend time with you, or talk to you, or even look at you sometimes. So, no, things haven't been great. They haven't been great and they haven't been since I hit adolescence. I don't know why. I guess you disagree with teenagers and I, as a teenager, disagreed with you - which is sad - but despite how not-great things have been, they seem to be getting better. I think.
Thank you for enduring me. I'm probably not easy for a father to deal with. I'm not a daddy's girl, I'm not anything to boast about, I'm quintessentially neurotic and awkward, I can't stand sports, I keep bringing home inappropriate men, and you punish me by pointing out my lovebites. Which is no more than I deserve, I guess.
You have the least diverse taste in films and music. (Don't get me wrong, the stuff you like is good, but your music collection hasn't had an update since 1975 and the only films you consistently enjoy are the Lord of the Ringses and The Usual Suspects.) You're embarrassing when you've had too much to drink. Your Brussel sprouts are the worst ever. You don't take care of yourself. You make stupid, unnecessary remarks. You're always getting on at me about what I eat - be it too much or not enough, there's usually something wrong.
Those are the things I dislike. For most of 2012, that was all I focused on when it came to you.
But now time has passed. I've grown up a bit - enough to see just a little of the hundreds of thankless, shitty things you do for us. You're the only person that stands between the rest of us and our house becoming a sty. You take us places at unsociable hours. You buy us random shit when we ask. Just earlier today, you put together a shepherd's pie for us to eat for dinner, when you were going to be at work, so that none of us had to cook, and that really, really touched me. Mum and Rob and Katie are grateful too, but I don't think they've really thought about it. I mean, Dad... You're not the most agreeable person on the planet. We both know that. (Most people know that.) But you are utterly selfless, and it's only now that I'm beginning to see how much of an honor it is to be your daughter.
Love, Katherine
Those are the things I dislike. For most of 2012, that was all I focused on when it came to you.
But now time has passed. I've grown up a bit - enough to see just a little of the hundreds of thankless, shitty things you do for us. You're the only person that stands between the rest of us and our house becoming a sty. You take us places at unsociable hours. You buy us random shit when we ask. Just earlier today, you put together a shepherd's pie for us to eat for dinner, when you were going to be at work, so that none of us had to cook, and that really, really touched me. Mum and Rob and Katie are grateful too, but I don't think they've really thought about it. I mean, Dad... You're not the most agreeable person on the planet. We both know that. (Most people know that.) But you are utterly selfless, and it's only now that I'm beginning to see how much of an honor it is to be your daughter.
Love, Katherine
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