Early 30s

The plumber came today to fix something and woke me up because my wife forgot the appointment. However, after he did what we hired him to do he mentioned he was a single father and I asked how old he was and he was in his early 30s. From age 29 in 1977 until I was 32 in 1980 I was a single father with a young son like him too. I mentioned I had been through this too. He was talking about how his 6 year old son wanted to be a Navy Seal because some of his relatives are Navy.

It all took me back to how hard it was when I was single to be an appropriate father so young without a wife. It was difficult because I had married at 26 which seemed pretty young to me at the time. So I watched many friends still living the wild and free single life and at times I was jealous of this. However, I also saw my friends die and have other problems because of too many risks they were taking or bad relationships or just plain bad decisions.

So, having my son at 26 kept me from becoming one of those many casualties of people I knew in one way or another.

I had to be strong and take care of my son no matter what. This was good for me because at 28 I started my first business which led over time to buying other businesses too to better support my son and another daughter I had with my next wife when I remarried at age 32.

So, I could really relate to what this young man who is a plumber is going through in trying to find the right person not only for himself but also a mother for his son too, hopefully.

I mentioned that I also found it hard because most women I dated then wouldn't make good mothers because they either weren't grown up enough for this or they never intended to be mothers ever. So, I found this difficult and eventually my 2nd wife was a divorcee with 2 children, one one year older than my son, a girl and one three years older than my son, a boy.

Now, all these years later, my son is a teacher, my stepdaughter is a lawyer, and my stepson is a Fire Captain, and my two younger daughters now are in college.

But, it all started at 26 by my having my son and getting married and at 28 starting my first business because I needed to take care of my son and to raise him right.

So, as I watched many of my single friends fall by the way, I became successful and raised my kids whether I was single or married ever after. My third marriage has been for 20 years so far and my biological kids are 18, 25, and 40 and my step kids are 41 and 43. Life is amazing!