DISCLAIMER: This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Minute Maid and DiMe Media. Minute Maid will provide this prize. Minute Maid is not a sponsor, administrator or connected in any other way with the contest – and all opinions are my own.
This Post has a Father’s Day Drawing!
Dear Daddy:
As an only child, I know I’m both a mommy’s and daddy’s girl.
One of my favorite little girl stories is Mami recounting the first day I was taken home from the hospital and she being mortified with the a grocery-store-display pyramid of 24 boxes of Pampers that you had meticulously arranged in my nursery room, along with a TV set and radio, and which she immediately proceeded to take it all down before the family visits.
That was the beginning of you showing me your love and care as you wanted me to have everything I needed….and more.
After watching this heartfelt video from our friends at Minute Maid, it made me realize that you could use a reminder that, just like Mami, you are also #doingood as a parent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZCdhVd3Vh8
Even if you don’t tell me, I know that you have had a dad guilt trip for all the years when I was growing up and I rarely saw you, due to your night and weekend shift as a Chef, plus the daily 3-hour commutes.
Even though our relationship growing up consisted of a few hours per week and attending important events, like graduations and ballet recitals, I want you know that I was very proud of my papi being a chef at important restaurants and strongly believing that you knew how to cook every meal in the world!
Things changed a lot when you took the plunge and became an entrepreneur with you online pastry store, Reposteria El Maestro, where you could actually take vacations and visit me in Miami. I will never forget your first plane ride ever to go to my undergraduate graduation. After that, I cherish your annual visits and your amazing help in more than five different moves – including the five-day road trip when I moved from Miami to NYC.
My daddy and me in my 7th birthday
Entering the magical world of smartphones
With you switching from a simple phone to a smart phone a few years ago, everything changed….for the better.
The ongoing text-messages, photo and news sharing has provided a closeness between us that did not exist before.
All of the sudden, the world of texting broadened the lines of our communication beyond my weekly calls.
Your confirming messages with reminders to eat well, to not forget to go to the gym or to stay safe during the snow storm have a deep emotional dimension that essentially you are reminding me that: “I care about you and I’m here to support you.”
I also appreciate the fact that you read my weekly personal marketing e-newsletter, “Vendete,” and ALWAYS send me your thoughts about it.
But in no other instance has your texts meant more to me than when I had my first heartbreak two years ago.
I always knew you were a romantic because you like listening to Luis Miguel and Marco Antonio Solis, but this moment in my life illustrated a whole new side of you that I wasn’t aware of: you are sensible, deep and understanding. I never had told you but I was really impressed by your texts full of wisdom, support and love. You knew the right words to say in long paragraphs where you would share how sorry you were for what has happened to me. You told me I would be in a better place soon, not to worry as it will pass and how Mami and you are there to support me through this sad moment. It made me feel that you understood my pain and that I wasn’t alone.
My daddy’s visit in NYC in the summer of 2013
After a month of my daily crying, I remember finally feeling more like myself and saw the tables turned as I needed to console you from MY heartbreak instead of the other way around. I realized then that my heart wasn’t the only one that was broken and it actually took you longer than me to get over it. The fact that you were grieving with me through texts was the sweetest thing I’ve ever had experienced as a daughter.
Even though there’s no secret that I’m closer to Mami, I want you to know that as my “first man,” your influence is fully imprinted in the well-adjusted, confident women I’ve become and how my relationships with other men are filtered through your presence.
Thank you for being my official mover, painter, economic advisor, heartbreak doctor, on-call medical assistance, my #1 newsletter fan and my news wire. I want you to know that you did good before and you are #doingood now.
I appreciate all your efforts and interest in my well-being every single day and I want you to know that you will always be “my first man.”
Love you and thank you,
Anllelic
Do you have a “don’t worry, you are #doingood” letter you would like to write to your papi, grandpa, brother, tio or friend?
Share your #doingood letter in the comments below and you will not only feel good about brightening his day, but you will also have the chance to give him a gift card on us!
Please add your letters below by June 22nd to be considered and also enter the Giveaway via Gleam.
Minute Maid Father's Day Giveaway
Anllelic Lozada “Angie” is a proud P.A.N.K (professional aunt with no kids), a Personal Marketing Strategist in NYC and Los Tweens & Teens “Tia-in-Charge,” based in New York City. Anllelic wants you to best your best life so you can positively influence your tween and teen. Subscribe to her weekly e-newsletter in Spanish in marketingparatucarrera.com/Vendete, where she shares personal marketing strategies to help you “Comunicar lo genial que eres.”