People I know - #3.

If you were to see me and my dad together today there's a few things you might not believe. For instance, we clashed a lot when I was younger. He had problems with alcohol and anger management and I was an obnoxious teenager who didn't know when to stop pushing. It came to a head when I was about 16. It was probably one of the scariest events of my life. 

The thing is, I think it was a wake up call for him. He started going to meetings and he tried SO HARD to get me to forgive him. And for a long time I couldn't -- I couldn't even look at him without bursting into tears. It was hard. But he kept trying. I pushed him away and I called him names and he KEPT trying. We slowly started to develop something of a relationship again, but I ended up moving away - first 8 hours away, and then to another country. We didn't talk much, for a long while.

At some point he and mum broke up [and eventually divorced] and -- to my shock -- he kept trying. Something most people wouldn't know is that he's not my biological dad. When he and mum separated I honestly thought his will to rebuild our relationship would just disappear. I was so wrong and when I count my blessings I count my BIGGEST blessing that my idiot father Steven was stupid enough to let me go so that I could be lucky enough to end up a dad like mine.

When I came back from America my dad was there for me. From that day onward he has been my ROCK. From taking me in and letting me stay with him, rent free, for as long as it took for me to put my life together.. to buying me shoes because I had none, to taking me to Doctors appointments when my health started to fall apart.. To hugging me and telling me that the world wasn't going to fall apart because my ex boyfriend didn't love me anymore. 

This is the man who has moved my entire house, almost single handedly, 3 times now -- and once across state lines in a 27 hour round trip with no sleep. The man who flew me home so I wouldn't be away from my family for the holidays.  This is the man who I could hear holding back tears when I told him I had been diagnosed with cancer -- who immediately told me to come home and he would take care of everything. When I refused to come home and insisted on staying put, this is the man who called me almost every second day to check I was ok.

This is the man who -- when the floods happened a few weeks ago -- was on the phone to me the minute he found out I might be in danger. Who demanded I SMS him the moment I finally get home, when I was stranded in the city. This is the man who has always offered to help, before he even really knew what was wrong.

This is my dad. My amazing dad. All these years later I look back and I think to myself, the rough start was worth it. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy, it's never fast. We have a fantastic relationship and I love this man more than any other person on the planet. My dad was worth the work.

I love you daddy.

xx. A.