Original Reddit post

I’m 19, living on my own, paying my own rent, bills, and handling my responsibilities but there’s something deeper that’s been weighing on me A few months before I turned 18, my house burned down. At that point, my dad still wasn’t really an active part of my life it was mainly just my mom. After that happened, I ended up living with family, but I felt like I was left to figure everything out on my own. I eventually did, but after a year of trying to rebuild and find my way, I feel like it only made things harder internally as I get older I’ve started realizing how much having a strong father figure or mentor can shape a man. My dad was never completely absent he was around and could have been more involved but I always felt like he was only halfway there. Now that I’m becoming a man myself, I notice the things I feel like I missed out on: having someone to teach me the things you don’t learn on your own, someone to give advice, pass down wisdom, help me understand how to handle certain situations, how to carry myself, how to control my emotions, and how to turn difficult experiences into growth. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve been able to handle a lot on my own, but sometimes I still feel this resentment towards him for not doing all that he could for his son just simply because I know if I’m grown enough to get somebody pregnant and have a kid the least I can do is nurture it into being a better man than I was but that’s not the case I felt like I was brought here only to be set up for failure by those very parents or dad I should say my mom did all she could but end of the day she’s not a man submitted by /u/Unfair_Bonus3180

Originally posted by u/Unfair_Bonus3180 on r/AskMen