As a young child I was confused, unaware as to why my mother came and left, unbeknownst to why everyone else had both parents or at least a mother. As a young Black girl, I thought I needed my mother and my father as a unit to guide me through this tough life I had approaching me, but as the years passed I was proven incorrect. The questions began to arise in late elementary school, "Mikayla, where is your mom?", "Why do you only live with your dad?". While harmless, these questions offended me as a child because just like them, I had no answers as to why my mother was not present in my life. What I did know was that my father was doing an amazing job as my only parent, he showered me with the love and support that seemed to have amounted to two parents, so the absence of my mother did not feel as if I was missing much. And then in 2016, my fathers oldest son, my brother passed away. While my brother and I did not share the same mother, we were as close as an older brother and younger sister could be, and he and my father had the most perfect relationship, one that I wanted my future children to have with their parents. My father fought his hardest to hide his pain from me but I knew he was not okay. Thinking back, I aspire how strong my father was during this time, he never allowed me to see him fall, he continued to be the best parent while mourning the loss of his only and oldest son. I will always recognize and honor his stability. As I grew older, my father and I’s relationship only became stronger, subjects that once confused me started to become things to converse over, the news channels I once begged him to switch to Disney channel became a morning routine as we shared breakfast, my father became my best friend. People sometimes ask me how my father and I are so close being that he is a man and I am a young woman but the answer is always the same, gender does not define love between a parent and a child. Everyday my father and I teach each other things, we bond over jokes we have created, we express our silly issues at work and school, and most importantly we care for each other because for so long it has just been him and I, me and my dad. I will always show my appreciation and gratitude for my father.