We’re pretty sure superheroes were inspired by dads (except those inspired by moms). You were our original! The guy who made thunderstorms exciting instead of scary, who could make eating veggies sound like the only way we would grow up to be as cool as you, and the one who taught us so many firsts. Sometimes you helped us crush our homework as easily as our fave hero took care of a villain, and you always knew how to transform bedtime into a story-filled adventure.

For your sense of humor, spirit of fun, questionable taste in movies, loyalty to a team that hasn’t won a game in a decade, and ability to turn mundane tasks into grand escapades… For your deep well of patience, for seeing the best in us and teaching us how to see it too, for making this big world feel safer just because you’re in it, and for being a place we can always come home to no matter how far away life has taken us—thanks dad! We know you’re only human. We know that pieces of you, the kind that can cause even the noblest of superheroes to stumble—we carry them too. But we are so grateful for the lessons lived and learned, the sacrifices made, and all the love!

To every one of us, the word dad carries a lot of weight. Sometimes it's measured in memories of the fathers we're missing this holiday. Sometimes it's heavy with the void of those who were never there. The emotions our individual experience of “dad” ignites aren't something we can pretend to comprehend for another—but we do give them the honor of acknowledgment. And in this month, where we've collectively set aside a day dedicated to fatherhood—we hope all of you find something to celebrate with someone who makes you smile. Here's to all the father figures—the ones who are brand new and the ones who have been making Dad Jokes for so long now they fit like a trusty pair of sneakers—you're pretty cool.

The Isely Family