My father turns 50 today. To celebrate, he’s going to take a half-day off. It’s the first time off that he’s had in five years.

My father is one of the hardest-working people that I know. I doubt that I know every sacrifice that he made for me, but I do know of some. One of the biggest was the time that he worked in another state during the week and drove down on the weekends to see us because he didn’t want my sister and I to have to move during our high school years.

He means a lot to me as a father and as a role model. I hope that he knows that. Happy 50th, dad.