My sweet daughter,

I want you to love someone who looks at you like maybe dreams do really come true. the way your father looks at me.

I want you to love someone who will give you the world even when his pockets are empty.

I want you to love someone who holds your hand in the car—no matter how short the drive—the way your father holds mine.

I want you to love someone who will never doubt your goals, the way your father never doubted mine.

I want you to love someone who will be by your side on this journey, but never try to “make” you, rather support you as you become who you aspire to be.

I want you to love someone who will put you up on a pedestal, exactly where you deserve to be.

I want you to love someone who will always try to catch your eyes in a full room just to wink at you, the way your father does to me.

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I want you to marry someone who will always suggest takeout when you don’t feel like making dinner, the way your father does.

I want you to have someone who will listen to you when you’re rambling on about something completely out of his interest, the way your father does.

I want you to have someone who will support all your hopes and dreams even when you may think they’re insignificant.

I want you to marry a man who, without hesitation, will bend over backward for you, who will stretch himself so thin when you need it, the way your father has always done and continues to do for me.

I want you to fall in love with someone who will always encourage and remind you to have time for yourself, the way your father persistently does for me.

I want you to have someone who will always put you first.

I want you to understand what love is by seeing the way your father loves me.

I want you to marry someone who will carry you when you’ve collapsed, the way your father continues to carry me.

I want you to have someone who will treasure you so very much, the way your father treasures me.

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I want you to have someone who will accept your brokenness and not try to focus on patching you up, instead focus on mending your heart.

I want you to find someone who will pull over to the side of the road to pick a flower for you, just as your father does for me.

I want you to marry someone whose main priority is his family, the way we are your father’s.

I want you to marry a man who will be your safe haven, just as your father is mine.

I want for you what I have for myself: pure happiness.

But I also need you to be willing to give it your all, the way I do.

I need you to be able to recognize when it’s time to take over when your husband has reached his limit, the same way he would do for you.

I need you to understand you must be willing to give your whole heart, the same way you’re receiving his.

I need you to understand just as you are worth it, so is he.

I need you to understand the beauty of a successful marriage is devotion and dedication.

I need you to understand sometimes you will carry more of the load, sometimes you will juggle a house and kids and a job, maybe. However, I need you to understand if you marry the right man, a man like the man I married, it will all be worth it because he will be worth it.

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I want you to understand what is acceptable and what is expected. I want you to know you must play your part, but more importantly, you must know your worth.

My sweet daughter, I want for you what I have for myself, and I don’t want you to settle for anything less.

Pure love.

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