The thing about growing up without a dad at an early age is that it's kinda like growing up without an uncle you never met. You hear stories about him and wonder what he might be like but you realize he's not a part of your life and you easily forget that he might have once been a part of your childhood.

When my parents divorced in the mid 60's, they divorced. My dad high tailed it out of town and I have not seen nor heard from him since I was about five or six. I was just young enough to not have really relied on him for many things and was not old enough to have a multitude of memories. My dad has always been that guy in the pictures that was once married to my mom. A sad way of looking at it for some but a mundane reality for others.

Growing up without a dad had its ups and downs. Every one of my friends growing up had a dad and as far as I knew all had pretty great marriages. The funny things was, as much time as I spent with many of my friends, I really never saw their dads that often. Most dads were off working during the day and then seemed to disappear at night. None of my friends dads coached the baseball team, were Boy Scout leaders or spent time playing outdoor games with us. So I never really felt like I was missing out on anything.

I do think I would have pursued sports a little more had I grown up with a dad. Especially one that might have coached me and could have built up a my confidence a bit. I never saw myself as a good athlete growing up and I actually never really was that interested in watching sports. Looking back now I know I could have been good at one sport or another but I just never gave it much effort.

As weird as this might sound I actually ended up with two dads rather than one. My mom did a great job of filling in for that fatherly role. She signed me up for baseball and came to my games, she had me in scouts and helped me earn my badges and she encouraged me to pursue the things I was interested in. My mom did a great job of showing me how to make my way on my own. She always worked two jobs, without complaining, and first showed me that entrepreneurial spirit that I finally harvested in my adult years. I never realized it in all of the years that she ran her craft business but my mom was a business owner. She worked hard, managed her business and turned out a quality product.

My second dad... read more

Labels: Curtis Tucker, Daughters, Memories, Parenting