You are my sunshine

I've been feeling rather nostalgic lately. I don't really know why or when it started, but it's been taking over slowly but surely for a while. The last few days I've been thinking more and more about the relationship I have with my father.
It's no secret that I have ALWAYS been a Daddy's girl since day one. My father has two daughters, my older sister and I. I was much more of a tom boy than my sister growing up and I always loved doing things with my dad that traditionally he would do with a little boy. Sure I loved dressing up and playing house, but I LOVED going to the woods with my Dad, playing with the BB-gun my mom didn't know he taught me how to shoot, fishing whenever possible, and watching football with him every weekend. I think some of my favorite memories of us together is driving around aimlessly with him when I was a little girl in his Bronco on the weekends.
It would always start out with him saying we were going to go visit our Uncle Bob (yes, I have a great uncle Bob) and inevitably we'd end up driving around back roads and woods for HOURS. Sometimes we'd end up at a lake, or the coast and he's let me run around like a wild child while he shot the breeze with whatever old timer was around. He'd always tell me these stories of when he was younger about places he'd been, things you need to know about the area if you want to fish here or there, or all the crazy characters he had met over the years. And let me tell you, my Dad has a MILLION stories to tell. I always loved that part of having an older father. My Dad was retired by the time I could drive while most other kid's parents were freaking out about turning 40/45/50 at most. I now often find myself closing my eyes and thinking about those careless days when I'm trying to relax. I will always be a Daddy's girl. He was, and continues to be, my partner in crime in my family and it breaks my heart to see him slowing down so much in the last couple of years. I will always get nostalgic whenever I hear the song "You are my sunshine". He used to sing it to me on those days in the truck or when I was scared. I will always treasure those days. I wonder if he ever knew how much it meant to me then...

You Are My Sunshine

My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away