All the reasons I like my dad just as much as I love him

I was pretty young when I first met my dad. Probably around seven seconds old. He liked me a lot, and from what I can remember, I liked him too. He hasn’t left my side ever since that day. I mean, physically he has — it’d be pretty weird and unreasonable if he was literally always next to me. But emotionally — he’s always been right there.

He helped raise me to be a pretty decent adult human, and I’m forever thankful for that. So in honor of Father’s Day and a general admiration for my dad, here are some of the reasons I like my dad just as much as I love him — in no particular order.

1. He taught me everything I know about Zelda.

2. He’s a firm believer in secret handshakes.

3. He prefers to eat dessert over any other food group, and generously passed that gene on to me.

4. He loves Walking Dead and will talk about zombies with me all day as if they’re a serious threat (they are).

9. He participates in civil war and western reenactments, and he’s the coolest dude on the playing field.

6. He selflessly sat with me and my sister for 10 days in the ICU as we helplessly watched our mom (and his ex-wife) die.

7. He’s doing a great job at being our only remaining biological parent.

8. He was a clinical neuropsychologist for 35 years and can accurately diagnose my enemies with personality disorders.

9. He’s a fantastic husband to his wife.

10. He owns a Speedo. Maybe two.

11. When I was 12, he would let me walk to the drugstore and spend all my babysitting money on candy.

12. He loves animals, but will spend an entire week building a contraption to make sure no other animals except birds eat the bird seed.

13. He has a witty sense of humor and laughs at my jokes. Unless they’re not funny (which happens frequently).

14. He doesn’t take himself too seriously.

Exhibit A: His Facebook profile picture.

15. His (lack of) rhythm.

16. His willingness to dance despite his lack of rhythm.

Exhibit B: He willingly participated in a choreographed father/daughter dance at my wedding. This move in particular was improvised.

17. He can’t cook. At all. And neither can I.

18. But he can eat. And so can I (see #3).

19. He has already built a top-secret project for his grandchildren, and he doesn’t even have grandchildren yet.

20. He knows the answer to everything. Even when he doesn’t.

21. He grew a killer mustache after he retired last year, just because he could.

22. He loves my dog (and his mustache).

23. He loves my wife.

24. He loves and accepts me despite my flaws.

25. JK I don’t have any flaws.

26. He’s not afraid of a mirror selfie.

27. He cries. A lot. And for the sweetest reasons. In fact, he’s probably crying right now.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you. And I like you.