My Story

Let me start out by saying that being a single parent of my son, Anthony, has been the most rewarding thing in my life. I wanted to state that before I got into my life after becoming the only person of support in his life.

It all began in August of 2000, just 5 months after he was born (3/10/2000). I was a full-time college student in my freshman year. When I knew I was going to have a child, I decided that I should better myself for our future and at 30 years of age, it was rough, but I knew that I had to do it. Anyway, when his mother left for another relationship with her drugs (crack and oxycontin), I was scared to death. I never knew she was on drugs, didn't know if she had taken anything while she was pregnant, and didn't have a clue as to how to be a parent; however, I was determined.

I began my journey as his father going to college full-time while working a full-time job. I talked to some people at his daycare and found a student that was going to the same college that had younger brothers and sisters as well as a daycare license and extensive experience in babysitting. It was the perfect solution for my worries of someone to watch him while I was in school.

The first year of his life was riddled with the usual. Strange sleeping habits, learning what different cries meant, tons of diapers, and of course, teething, sitting, crawling, and walking. The most difficult thing that I had to deal with during that first year was not being in his life as much as I wanted to be. I was working from 8am-5pm, and on Mondays and Thursdays, I would drop him off at daycare at 7:15am along with his car seat. I wouldn't get to see him again until I got home from school around 10:45pm. Needless to say, with caring for him and studying, sleep was non-existent that first year. Oh, I forgot to mention that I also had every other Saturday at school, so I didn't see him much on those days either. Still, I made it through both my first year as a single dad and as a full-time employee and full-time student. I actually made it through that year and managed to get all good grades. If I remember correctly, after my first year of college, my G.P.A. was around 3.90. This brings my story to year two of Anthony's journey with his father.

The terrible twos really weren't terrible until he was almost three. Then the real story begins....

To be continued...