How to make my dad love me?

[JisthenewK]

I love my dad a lot. He wasn't raised in the most loving environment and my mum is a very loving person, who is nuturing. My dad and I don't always get along (he also doesn't know I'm gay). He just seems old-fashioned and tough. I wrote him a letter once, telling him my feelings of how I felt guilty for never being good enough for him and stuff like that. I told him that I loved him. He's not a touchy-feely emotional person, but I am. Sometimes that is what I need. He can be so cold. He did hug me and told me he loved me after reading the letter. I just wish he would be like that more often. My mum keeps saying "he wasn't raised to be emotional, blah, blah, blah." It hurts. I see other people with their loving dads and I want to cry. I just want a bond with him. He's not abusive or mean, but he's not the easiest guy to get along with. I love him. How can I improve our relationship? We have very little in common.