To the man I like to call “The Blueprint.”

That folks is Claudio De Jesus Cabrera. He is who my grandmother’s and everyone in the family call “Claudio El Viejo,” because he’s the older Claudio. I get called “Claudito.”

For Father’s Day, I decided to give my dad the gift of a Broadway play. I sent him to see “In The Heights,” which we all know is about my part of town and the Dominican immigrants that inhabit them. I know they’ll have a great time.

Looking back on life, I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m one of the few minority men I know who had their father in the household all their lives. I just really don’t know how I would’ve turned out without the support of “two” parents.

As I grow older, I begin to see how much I look like him. Pure mirror images.

I appreciate my father because he taught me the value of hard work. He’s always let me be who I want to be. Never judged me and always believed in me.

So a toast to the man I like to call the smoothest dad in his 50′ and the best dressed middle-aged man in the Heights/Inwood. And I’ll continue saying the same as time marches on.

I love you and I wish you the best on your special day; and for making me into the man I am today.

“You are appreciated.” Tupac

P.S: R.I.P to my girlfriend’s father, Andre Brisard, who passed away two years ago. We all wish you were here.

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