I guess my story starts out like most fathers. Ok, maybe not. In 1997 my girlfriend got pregnant. Being the responsible person I am, and not believing abortion, I asked her to marry me. So, in August of 1997 we were married. She was about 3 months pregnant. On March 31st, 1998 I was the proudest daddy in the entire world. Life then moved on. We went from making ends meet to coming up short every month. I was in the Air Force and decided to get out considering I could make about $10,000 more a year right out of the service.
Skip forward about four years and things were not going well. I spent the entire day with my daughter. She went to the office with me every day. I even had a desk and computer set up for her. Luckily I worked for my self and was able to keep her with me. More and more her biological mother was less around.
Then on a Saturday, two weeks before my daughters four year birthday, her and I came home and she had moved out. She took everything, including all the money, minus $100 she left on the bed post.
That was the point I realized I needed to act. I moved out of the apartment we were in in the next three days. My daughter and I moved in to my parents already cramped house and at 33 years old my life was turned upside down.
One week later, I broke my leg skateboarding. I broke my ankle so bad, to this day I have a metal plate, six screws and one bolt holding it all together. Guess I won’t be giving Tony Hawk any competition…. I had to go in for surgery. I was in the hospital for 3 days, then I was confined to a couch, bed and whell chair for the next two months. When I finally was able to stand up, I was on cruches for the next month and half. Not the best way for me to start my single fatherhood. I am sure thankful my mother and father were there to help me out.
By July I was getting back on my feet. By August my divorce was final. And the only contact I had with my ex from April to then was when she called me about the divorce paperwork she was served. I had in the document that she would have no custody and no visitation, considering my daughter had not seen her since the day she left, I figured why would I leave that open. My ex’s only question was how could she pay the $100 a MONTH child support payment if she didn’t have a job. I was speechless. The divorce was final in August.
So, since then it has been my little girl and I. She is the best thing in my life. I have always known we were close, although, she is now 10 and not a day goes by that I don’t appreciate how close we really are.
So, I decided to write my story on a website to share it with the world and hopefully provide tips and inspiration to any single parent, mother or father.
-To Be Continued in the Blog Today, Tomorrow, and into the Future-
