Inspiration....

Welcome all to my first blog!  I was never really into blogging but lately I've been inspired to do so.  Personally, I've always looked at blogging as the modern day "message in a bottle," meaning it's pretty much a toss up on who actually reads what you have to say.  In movies, I've seen it used as a last resort for some helpless sap stuck on an island - their only hope for rescue written in desperate diction on whatever medium available.  They usually roll it up, place it in the bottle, and cork it.  Next, they give it the "ole heave-ho" into the ocean.

I mean seriously people, do you know how far you'd have to toss that bottle to get it out pass the tide and if you were somehow strong enough to toss it far enough, it'd most likely hit a rock and shatter.  But humor me and say it makes it, they still won't be able to find them...but I digress.  Even though my apprehension toward blogging has its merits I do see the principle behind it.  The principle is one of hope.  Hope for a better tomorrow, hope that they themselves and future generations will have more options (not just coconuts to eat), but a better way of life. It seems their dire circumstances inspired them to attempt such methods and so here I stand with them...inspired.

With all that being said, I think it prudent to explain why and how I was inspired to create the blog "Chronicles of a Single Father." For me, it's  a way to pour into the lives of that unsuspecting person walking on the beach.  It's only fair, I've popped the cork on many a bottle in my day! (OK, THAT CAME OUT WRONG) What I meant was that so many before me have poured into me and I only hope to carry that on to help others in my situation benefit and continue the legacy of excellence started before me.

It all began with the suggestion of someone very dear to my heart.  Someone who thought that my story should be told because no one hears about the experiences of young black single fathers raising their seeds.  Single mothers YES, but dads... not so much.  I guess that makes my story rare if nothing else.  In this world, rare means valuable and it's the value you place on yourself that determines who you become.

My value came from the late nights and sweat from my grandmother in the back kitchen of a restaurant for 40 years.  The start of a trash company by my grandfather with only a basket and a mule, and the strength and determination of my father to NEVER allow me to "touch that trash."  It's those things that inspire me.  It wasn't that touching trash was beneath me to him (because I was always tasked to take it out), but to propel me in a direction of thinking past what his own possibilities and options were.  These among others you'll learn has made me the person you see today..still here...still standing...and attempting to continue that legacy of excellence.  I do hope you enjoy!