Recently I met with the Executive Director for a prominent private school in the Atlanta area to pick his brain about some of the work he’s been doing with young families from low income communities.  Given that we’re in the same line of work, and that he has years of experience in this field, I figured I could learn a lot.  I was not disappointed.   This man was dripping with wisdom about how to reach young children with the world of literacy, and how to equip parents in the process.  He was sharing so much that we ran over our allotted time together and I had to promise to come back and continue the conversation.  Before I left, he mentioned something that has stuck with me over the past few days.  I shared that I have been working with a Teen Dads program in my community. As I shared some of the strategies we used he offered this advice: get your teen dads to tell their story.  What a powerful opportunity to impact the lives of others if they could tell the journey of their pathway to educational advocates for their kids.  

I’ve been thinking about this a lot because I’ve been trying to figure out how to further leverage this medium (the fatherhood blog) as a useful platform.  And now I think I’ve found it.  This will be a father’s storytelling hub.  Thus far I’ve only been telling my stories, and as interesting as they might be at times, there’s so much more to be said about the trials and joys of being a father.  So in the coming months I’m excited to partner with several of my friends and future mentees as they begin to share their stories about fatherhood.  Hopefully this can continue to be a space where we all learn from each other.  And if any of you are interested in sharing your story, feel free to post.  Otherwise, the stories I share will come from the intereviews I’ll be doing hopefully weekly with at least one new father.  Let the sharing begin!

SDW3