Community Corner
Happy Father’s Day From Daniella Pavon
"This is the story of a little girl who has loved her father from the moment she opened her eyes."
In celebration of Father's Day on Sunday June 17, we asked Patch readers to write a letter to their father and let us deliver it. This is Daniella Pavon's letter to her dad:
Dear Daddy,
I’d like to tell you a story on this special day that celebrates you.
Do you remember all those times you would stretch out your forearm and say, “When you were born, you were only this big,” and point from your fingers to your elbow? Or the several hundred times you’ve mentioned that “yo te vi nacer!” or, “I saw you being born!” as if my coming into existence should’ve been a national holiday? Or the multitude of times you’ve told my brother and I, “You guys are the two people I love most in this world. You are my compass. You are my direction.”?
Well, as the years have gone on, the sentiments around our family tales are now engraved in my heart. Every year you find a moment to repeat these little bits of my childhood, and every year I get to understand a little bit more of the enormous love you have for us. Every year I become more aware of the feats you had to conquer moving to this country from Mexico City with no money and a new wife at the age of 24.
Yet amidst starting a business and buying Mom a pair of gloves for the winter when you only had $22, you guys had my brother and me. You never missed a birthday, a soccer game, a recital, or a bad break-up. You taught me that a father can be emotional, kind and sensitive. You taught me that being a man isn’t a singular reductive definition of “an authoritative provider.” You taught me how to reason and strive to be a better person for the world and, most importantly, for myself.
This is the story of a little girl who has loved her father from the moment she opened her eyes. Of a little girl who grew up thinking her dad was the strongest man alive. Of a woman who now looks back at her life and can only be grateful for the man she still calls “Daddy,” even through the darkest of times.
Happy Father’s Day, Daddy. I love you.
Daniella
See all Father's Day letters here.
Image Credit: Danny Shum
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.