One aspect of my life that I never really gave much thought to was the fact that I didn’t have a father growing up. I honestly think I’ve always done this to protect my mother. Not giving it any thought prevented me from showing any indication that something was missing in our lives. I always wanted her to feel that she was enough and was doing a great job raising us. But now as 24 yo man, Im starting to wonder what are things I missed or how much of an impact did it have on me. One glaring and horrifying realization I had was that all my life, all I ever did was skate by. I was able to finish school all the way to college and hold a job down without exerting real effort, passion, or ambition. I did “just enough” to pass a class and graduate. I did “just enough” to be employed. Don’t get me wrong, my mom is really proud of me. These are all just internal musings—things I’m only now coming to realize. It was good enough for her that I was able to finish college, get a job and earn a livable decent wage. On the other hand, my aunt (mom’s eldest sister) is married to my uncle, who’s a lawyer. They have six children who all went to Ivy League schools. Three of them became lawyers (the eldest is now a judge), and three became physicians. I can’t even begin to describe what a blessing it is to have them as family and not having to worry about any legal or medical concerns for the rest of our lives. But, finances aside, there must be a fundamental difference between my life and my cousins’ for them to reach those heights (I figured having money is not enough to have the ambition/drive to become a lawyer/doctor). And all I can think of right now is them having a constant father figure in their lives. If I am to reinvent myself and turn things around, I think this is something I need to at least know about—what’s it like to have a father? submitted by /u/Practical-Page7237
Originally posted by u/Practical-Page7237 on r/AskMen
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