Dear Dad,

 

I’ve been trying to find the right words for this, and I keep coming back to the same simple truth: I am here because of you.

 

I don’t say that lightly. There was a time, back in 2016 and in the years before it, when I wasn’t sure I would make it through. You were the one who stayed. You were the one who showed up when it would have been easier for anyone else to look away. I have never forgotten that, and I never will. Everything I have built since then rests on the fact that you refused to let me go.

 

You shaped the direction of my whole life. My time in the military began with you, with the example you set and the man you showed me I could become. The work I went on to do afterward with AM300 came from that same place. And when things fell apart later, when I was left picking up the pieces, you were there again, steady, the way you have always been.

 

It’s only now, raising Addison and Camille, that I fully understand what you gave me. Every time I show up for them, every time I choose patience over frustration or presence over distraction, I am doing something you taught me first. You are the reason I know how to be their father. They have the dad they have because I had the dad I had.

 

I think about the memories too. The ordinary days that didn’t seem like much at the time but turned out to be everything. You gave me a childhood worth remembering and a foundation worth standing on.

 

So this Father’s Day, I want you to know that my gratitude has never faded. Not once. You are the reason I am still here, the reason I have come this far, and the man I measure myself against every single day.

 

Thank you for all of it, Dad. I love you.

​

Your #1 Son,

​

Jesse

​

P,S. And of course, below you will find the link to your Bass Pro Gift Card... However, I do not know if they even have Bass Pro Shops there in Pensacola... Please let me know for the future.

​