Parents constantly say ‘I just want you to be better than me.’ These words are used as justification for when they are overreacting or being overprotective. In my house, my dad is the one that says this the most. The more he tells me this, the more I realize he really is just wanting the best for me.

My parents had split up when I was just a baby, and living with my abuela and abuelo was something I hadn’t realized not everyone did. I constantly went back and forth to visit. For my birthday, I had two parties with separate sides of my family. I had not realized the meaning of our situation back then, but with age, I am able to understand and be grateful for moments like these. My dad constantly strives his family to be the best they can be, working hard to get us to where my family is today, together as one.

Most of the time I go to tell my parents something at family gatherings, I speak quickly so my parents can continue their conversation. As soon as I begin walking away, I hear the words “Did you know she was born early?’’, they reply with the usual “Really?” and my dad continues on how I had weighed only 1 pound and nine ounces. I roll my eyes and think “Really dad?” but after guilt gets to me, I realize he says this because he is expressing his pride for his kids in a way he feels comfortable.

Another time I had the chance to see my dad's soft side was at our eighth-grade end of the year Cotillion. This event is to show families how their daughters are growing and heading into high school. We had to pick a family member, normally a fatherly figure, and I decided to pick my abuelo. My welo had played a major role in my life, yet I still felt kind of guilty for not choosing my dad. The next day, my mom was telling me how it felt to sit in the uncomfortably crowded bleachers, and told me about a conversation she had with my dad. He asked her why I didn't ask him to walk with me, with a feeling of jealousy, and she proceeded to tell him why I chose my welo. He had understood my reasoning, and continued to listen until my name was called. My mom told me that as I was walking down the carpet, she looked at him crying, because he had heard me acknowledge him as my hero.

Just recently, I had a tremendously stressful, and busy week. I had multiple tests, color guard competitions and orchestra performances. Getting home late, still having to do homework and shower, I was not used to going to sleep past midnight every day of the week. One night I was doing homework, he walked in half-asleep and said “School is important, I’m proud of you for doing good, but make sure you’re getting enough sleep.” This wasn’t anything complex, but it meant more to me than he realized. Since I was little, my dad had always been the one to ask how things were and check on me. He always defended me to my mom, take my opinion into consideration, and tried his hardest to buy me the things I wanted. These small actions add up, and show me how much he cares. 

Last year was my first year doing color guard, and the nervous feeling at competitions was a new experience for me. My mom had gone to many of the competitions, being the mask over my dads absence. At the end of the winterguard season, it had hit me he hadn’t been to any of my performances. The more I thought over this, the more my little brother came to mind. My dad missed my performances because he had been rooting for my brother at football games or taking him to practice, putting in effort to be supportive for Jr as he has been for me.

My dad has had missed moments, just like anyone because he is not perfect. Those missed moments didn't show the effort put into sticking with the same rough job, dealing with rude, lazy people so that our family could afford to live without worrying about our next meal. His missed moments didn't show all the times he took my side unknowing to a situation or if I was in the wrong. Most of all, these missed moments didn’t show how great of a dad he is and the effort he puts into ensuring his kids can have a better life than he did, and I may roll my eyes and get mad in the moment, but I know his annoying overprotectiveness is for a reason.