Dear Dad
“Daddy’s don’t just love their children every now and then.
It’s a love without end, Amen.”
-George Strait
I remember it was December and just a few weeks out from my WR launch date, we were driving home from running together and that George Strait song came on. I secretly cried next to you as we sang this song together. I didn’t want you to know how hard it was for me to leave. I was overcome by the thought of not seeing you for 11 months. No runs, beers, chats in our redneck pool, SUPping, Bootcamps, yard work, long drives with the windows down, or conning you into helping me in the garage with my upholstery projects. I miss all of this so much.
Our relationship wasn’t perfect but it is and will always be so precious to me. When I say to people “I have the best Dad” I am not lying. God knew exactly the man I would need in my life to lead me and grow me into the person I am today. No one could have done a better job than you.
You have made me a hardworking person that won’t stop working until the job is done. Sometimes this caused me sunburns, blisters and extreme heat rashes but that’s just the Madden way.
You have made me strong and confident in who I am. You never told me I could’t do something. If I put my mind to it I always knew that you would be there to catch me if it didn’t work out. You have always supported me in my crazy ideas and I’m so thankful for that. I would have never started Thready or Knot, taught bootcamps, or gone on the WorldRace if it weren’t for how you raised me.
You have taught me to stand up for what I believe in and defend myself. You and PeekeePa always told me “you don’t take crap”. I just might have learned how to nicely not take crap… Hahahaha!
Above all you showed me what a really amazing man is. You aren’t perfect but you try to be. When people talk to me about you they say things like “Your dad is so nice, He is so smart, you’re dad can do anything, I wish I had your dad”. And I think, yeah, I am so blessed.
Being on the WR I have heard stories about really bad childhoods because of really bad dads. I have seen children in impoverished countries that have dads that have left them to starve. I have seen the ramifications and effects that it has on people. And I think to myself, “Thank you God for blessing me with the Dad I have.”
I hope that this Father’s Day you find rest and get to relax in our pool with a new floaty and a cold one.
I miss you so much and I love you more than words could explain. I wish that I could call you on Sunday but it just so happens that I am in the bush of Myanmar with no wifi. (Also, bucket showers, squatties, finicky electricity, and I sleep on the floor. But I am so happy and this has been one of my favorite months so far!) I will be home sooner than we both realize and I can’t wait to hug your neck.
Talk to you soon,
XOXO,
Em
PS- Sometimes when I am really sad and missing you I think of that old Chevy truck with the carpet seats! I remember all those times we would ride with the windows down singing Eric Clapton, Eagles, Queen, or old country.
Also, I think of that daddy daughter dance we went to at Oak Tree. Mom let me buy those cool brown gaucho pants from Limited Too— I felt too cool for school. That night we danced to “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John. Ever since then that song will forever by in my heart as our song.
