A tribute to my Dad

I know it's 2 weeks too late, but I just emailed my Dad and I wanted to keep this memory.

By Joseph J. Mazzella
Hi Dad. 

I just wanted to write you a little note to thank you for all the things you have done
for me over the years, but I realized if I did that it would be a whole book. I hope you don’t mind
then if I just hit the highlights.

     Thanks Dad for having the good sense to marry Mom all those years ago. You couldn’t have
chosen a better wife or mother for all of us.

Thanks Dad for not stopping at two kids or else I wouldn’t be here today. Thanks Dad for that stack of books you kept in the corner of the living room. It got me reading early and I haven’t stopped since.  Thanks for everyone of those dinners over the years. They were food for both the stomach and the soul.  Thanks too for giving me your old car. You kept me driving instead of walking or riding.

     Thanks Dad for always encouraging me and supporting my choices even when I made the
wrong ones. Thanks for always being there to talk to when I had problems and pain. You helped
me through a lot more than you know over the years. Thanks for being such a great dad to all
your kids and such a loving grandfather to all of your grandchildren.

     Thanks so much Dad for being there through laughter and tears, triumph and tragedy, love
and loss, happiness and heartbreak. I am so happy that you were my Dad. You taught me how to
always be there for my own children. You showed me how to be a good man. You helped me to
find my way through life and back to love, joy, and God. Happy Father’s Day Dad. I hope that
we share many more of them together. I love you.