Have you ever felt excited with such joy….but also SCARED?  Not just scared, but confused and lost?  Excited because the news of a new baby is always a blessing, but worried, lost, and scared because you’re a teen one second and the next thing you know, you’re a whole parent who has to become an adult and face REAL LIFE!  Those were some of the feelings and thoughts that were going through my head the day my girlfriend and I found out we were pregnant at the age of 17 years in our junior year.

June 28, 2017 was the day we decided to get a pregnancy test, and head to my house for more privacy.  That same day, we found out we were going to be parents.  The test was positive, and that is when both of our lives changed in a blink of an eye.  My girlfriend was six weeks pregnant, and I was ready to be the father I never had.  I was scared (beyond belief)….I never had a father or father figure.  So, for me to become a father was a challenge, but something I knew I had to do for myself, for my family, most especially, for my first daughter.

In this journey of fatherhood, I have experienced, learned and changed a lot.  I have changed as a person; my mindset has changed into always putting family first, above anything else.  I have learned a lot about being a dad, and I know with time, I am only going to learn more.  I am ready.  My reaction of fear and cloud of doubts in the beginning was nothing but the start – the start of the great journey of fatherhood I will have with my daughter and the great man, father I will become.

Thanks to this blessing from God, I get a change to be the father I never had.  I will protect her, and prove to her that Dad will always be by her side.