18 Wholesome Dad Stories That Will Make You Laugh, Cry, And Everything In Between
In honor of Father's Day, we recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us their most wholesome story about their dad.
The stories that came in range from heartwarming to hilarious to incredibly emotional. Here they are:
1."He brought me a graphing calculator at college in a snowstorm. I took a statistics class my freshman year in 2004 and needed a graphing calculator, but buying them new was really expensive, so my dad — a high school teacher —borrowed one from a colleague and drove four hours round-trip during a snowstorm to bring it to me."
—38, New Jersey
2."I was scared to go to summer camp because he said goodnight to me every night and I couldn’t sleep without him saying it, so he recorded a video of himself saying it on my digital camera to surprise me when I got there."
3."My parents divorced when I was around 10. My mom left, leaving my dad with his three daughters. I was the youngest and closest with my mom pre-divorce, so I struggled for a really long time with it. My dad often stayed up late with me just so I could talk, since I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about everything. One night, I told him how much this one band meant to me, that their music and funny videos they made had made me genuinely happy again, something I was really trying to hold onto. I had had the opportunity to travel to possibly meet them at a CD signing, but my dad had said no. After hearing me that night express the importance of this group to me, he went to his office downstairs and bought tickets to a concert of theirs coming up that summer. Mind you, he is disabled and we really probably didn’t have the money for these tickets."
"He came back upstairs and told me to check my email. I did, and there were the tickets. My sister went with me. It was great. And what my dad doesn’t know is that, if he hadn’t bought those tickets and given me something to look forward to, I may have not even held on until summer. Thankfully, by the time the concert came and went, I started to get better mentally. He helped me keep going during a dark time, in many ways."
4."When I was young, my parents took my brothers and me to the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. The machine that crushes pennies into designs was not working that day so we could not get them. We liked to collect them as children. Well, one day in the next couple of weeks my dad drove back to the aquarium (which was an hour away from our house) and got us the pennies. I’ll never forget that. To this day, my dad is the absolute best. I don’t know what I’d do without him (and I’m tearing up as I write this)."
—39, Virginia
5."You have to line up super early to get into the walk-in clinic in my city. When I arrived at 7 a.m., my dad had already been standing in line holding a spot for me for a half hour! I’m 55. The best dad ever."
—Lonnie, Canada
6."My freshman year of college I randomly joined the women's rugby team. My Dad would drive two hours each way to see me play and take me to lunch afterward. He always asked questions about various plays and calls by the referees, sometimes about rules even I wasn't clear on. My Mom later told me he'd bought a Rugby for Dummies (or something along those lines) book to learn the game, positions, and rules, and he watched videos online to try and better understand the sport I had picked up. He never made a big thing of it, just an amazing Dad doing his best to understand a completely random sport his daughter picked up."
—Caitlin, Colorado
7."My dad is literally my best friend and I’m his. My mom gets lovingly annoyed sometimes because I'm basically just the 16-year-old female version of him. He loves sad lesbian music (Boygenius, Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski, Clairo) and I'm a lesbian so our music taste is the same, too. Our dream is to go to a Boygenius concert together because that's our favorite band."
8."My dad loves to plant flowers, and hibiscus flowers are one of my favorites. Every summer when I was a kid and the first hibiscus of the season bloomed, he’d put it in a vase on my nightstand."
9."For my niece's birthday, she wanted a pirate theme, because she’s the coolest. None of the other adults dressed up, bar her mum, but my Dad, oh man. He spent the whole week leading up to the party obsessing over his outfit because he wanted to be the perfect pirate grandpa for her. He got up early just to have his eyeliner done, and to be the best pirate he could. He was so excited to be a pirate for her. We had to stop for petrol on the way, and when he went to pay, he was asked 'What’s the occasion?' and he said with so much pride, “I’m Grandpa Pirate!” He absolutely adored that little girl so much, and the way her face lit up when she saw him dressed as a pirate was so worth it."
10."I was 7 years old, and Angel had just died on Buffy. I came upstairs SOBBING and wailing that he died (we both watched Buffy but he had seen this episode the night before). He kind of chuckled but let me cry on his shoulder and held me until I calmed down. I'm in my mid-30s but I still think of that moment often. No matter how silly his adult brain thought it was, he just let me feel my feelings and was there for me."
11."I don’t even know where to start. My dad is the absolute best. Right now, he is asking me for book recommendations and wants to read my favorite book, Long Way Down. He said that he wants to learn why I like these books. I love that he is doing that."
—Anonymous, US
12."My first time coming back home after starting college, my dad put my favorite teddy bear in the middle of the bed with a note saying 'I’ve missed you!' It was so precious."
—30, Chicago
13."Dad always knew what to say when I was feeling at my worst. The morning of my A Level exams, I was a wreck but he put his hand on my shoulder and said ‘I’m not worried, I know you’ve done well.’ I would also always fall out with my Mum over getting work done, but Dad never chased or nagged me. He would just say, ‘I believe in you and I know you’ll get it done.’ My Dad was never a man of many words, but when the moment called for it, he would always find the kindest and most needed ones to say."
14."My stepdad has been in my life since I was five. My mom never liked shopping and also struggled with an alcohol addiction. So when it came time to go dress shopping for dances, my stepdad would take me. I know it probably wasn’t his favorite thing to do with his Saturday but we made it into a thing and would always get a fancy coffee. This continued basically any time I needed a fancy dress until it came time for THE dress. I brought my stepdad with me for wedding dress shopping and it was such a beautiful full-circle moment. To this day in my mid-thirties, we still enjoy shopping together."
—35, California
15."My ex had introduced me to Attack on Titan and I was hooked. I fell in love with every aspect of the show and became obsessed. So for the last night of Hanukkah, my dad surprised me by revealing he had started watching it. He’s on the last four episodes and keeps talking about us going to a convention and he wants to make ODM gear. I get my ADHD from him and maybe also my Autism, so that’s also made us close."
16."Even though we are both 'old' now, my dad still came to my rescue recently. I needed emergency surgery last year and had no one to drive me home or watch my cats or help me if it ended up being more serious. I called my parents in the late afternoon and my dad got on the first flight and flew halfway across the States to come directly to my house and wait with me for the surgery (no sleep for him). He drove me to the hospital, talked to the surgeon, and waited into the night for my surgery to be done. It ended up being relatively minor and I was discharged. The next day, my dad took me to my favorite small zoo near my house to go for my 'recovery walk.' He bought me a stuffed animal in the gift shop that is now on my bookshelf."
—38, California
17."My dad was against me getting my permit because my mom didn't discuss it with him first. I failed my driving test twice because I couldn't parallel park. I was big into baseball at the time. Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away 3 months after my 17th birthday. I finally got my license 3 weeks after that and my mom gave me a gift: my favorite player's jersey. My dad was waiting to give it to me until after I got my license. It was like he felt bad for being pissy and still wanted to show me he was proud of me. I miss him so much."
—40, Pennsylvania
18."When I was a teenager I had a hard time making friends, so summers were pretty lonely for me while my siblings were off with their friends. My dad worked from home and one day, while I was watching TV, he asked me if I wanted to go to a concert with him that night. My dad NEVER takes off work and we didn’t have a lot of money for spontaneous concerts, so the offer was jarring, to say the least. He took me to see Cheap Trick, Journey, and Heart. It was my first concert and it was so much fun! He told me stories about when he was young and the bands were on the radio and how he struggled as a teenager too. It meant the world to me that he noticed I was lonely. That was the best night I ever had with my dad!"
—30, Texas
What's one of your favorite memories of your dad? Share in the comments below!
Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
