Letter To A Special Dad On Father’s Day
I was checking my e-mail messages after a weekend of group work in Dalyan, before I started to work on a new post, when a letter written to Mr. Korkut by his son Deniz on Father’s Day caught my eye. It moved me deeply, and I’m sharing this letter with their permission:
“19 June, 2016
“Dearest Dad,
“This time I wanted to give you something sentimental because I know you would value more than a material gift. I am letting my pen speak.
If I had grown up in a different setting, maybe I’d never have felt how special this day was, but you’ve made me feel it.
You’ve shown me how to be a father; you’ve never been anything like a step-father to me. You still keep being the key for me to unlock the gates to my future. I don’t believe I’d ever have found such loving care, such great coaching for life, unless you’d been there for me, wiping away the odds of anything bad happening in my life ever since the first day I called you “Dad”.
All my behavior, all my ways today can be traced back to you, and I couldn’t tell you how reassuring that is. It’s hard for me not to feel blessed. Your ambition throughout what you’ve endured in your life stands in front of me, preventing me from finding excuses for myself.
I just keep getting inspired by a man who has removed all obstacles from my path. I can feel my responsibilities grow as I grow older. As time goes by, I wish to boast of being your doing, your accomplishment.
Sometimes I resent your decisions but I know each of them will come back to me and become part of me. I know that the pieces of my puzzle will come from you and I’m assured that I won’t have any pieces missing. Thanks to you, I can be myself. Most of the time I can feel that you miss me. Those pure, unsophisticated feelings that you have for me make me feel special. Your attitude in the face of events, your clarity of mind, your solutions fill me with admiration.
Thanks to you, I experience great advantages that I’d be sorry not to appreciate. You nourish me, and I never wish to be satisfied. My concept of family has developed with you. You’ve made me feel that you were a home to me, that I could cuddle up to you when I was cold. Learning from what you told me and made me feel has come to be my greatest responsibility.
I know that no man like you will ever touch my life again. Sometimes I think, “Who else would have made me feel this way, who else would have embraced me this way?” I possibly wouldn’t have believed it if I’d been told that a man would shape me like this but you’ve made unbelievable things come true. You’ve made me feel the love of a father. You’ve become my future. You’ve become my light, and with your fatherly love I’ve never had a dark night ever since I’ve met you.
“Have a happy Father’s Day, you special man…
“Deniz”
I wish a dad for every child, a dad who can make them feel like writing a letter like this…
