A Year of Gratitude - Day Eighty-six

Day 86 - Twenty-one Years Ago Today

Twenty-one years ago today, September 5th, my daughter Elizabeth Arda was born at 1:30 PM at St. Vincent’s Hospital here in Portland.  And in that intervening 21 years, in spite of a great deal of strife and tribulation, she has become one of the most beautiful, most brilliant young women I have ever met.  Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her (and to be fair, her siblings, too).  And to say I am proud of her is a gross understatement.  However, there are not words in our language that could come close to describing what she means to me.

I am so lucky to have her in my life.  She was always a remarkable kid; she is going to be a remarkable woman.  That she wants to spend time with me, explore new places with me, talk about important things with me is all added to the blessing that her just being brings to me.  She is simply amazing.

Many fathers are proud of their daughters, and proud to be their daughter’s father.  That may be true, but they cannot compare to my good fortune.  I was granted the very best.

To say I love her very much is another understatement, but the best I can do.  I am a better man for knowing her; I am the luckiest man alive to have her as my daughter.