Number of single parents in the U.S.: 14 million
Number of children being raised by single parents: 21.6 million
Percentage of single mothers: 83.1%
Percentage of single fathers: 16.9%
Percentage of single fathers who are widowed: less than 1%
In doing the math, that means in a country with a population of over 311 million people, I fall into a category of less than 23,660 people, which is .0076% of the total population. I always knew I was a rare breed *insert rim shot here*.
Therefore, as I go on this journey, I am going to write a weekly post from my experience as a single, widowed father. I am calling it Fatherhood Fridays. Some of the stories shared will be fun and funny, others will be sweet, still others difficult. I will discuss both successes and failures and what can be learned from each. As with anything else I write, it is my prayer that these weekly posts will be helpful. Further, given the small sample size to which I will be writing, I hope the posts will be insightful to the general population, perhaps showing a perspective that is, by nature, underrepresented.
There you have it. Welcome to the first week of Fatherhood Fridays!
Looking forward to it...though, I'm not sure you'll have enough material with those two kids you're raising ;)
ReplyDeleteKeeping a journal is good and healthy for grieving. I wish I did a better job of it. I'll be following you. If I could give you a word of encouragement all I could say is, you may feel lonely at times, but remember you are NOT alone. Our Father is always with you and your brothers and sisters in Christ are here for you too. My phone line, door, fellowship and friendship are always available to you. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks! I definitely know that I'm not alone, but the reminders are important. Not only has the Lord been especially close during this time, my family and the church family have been amazing. Love them all!
DeleteJoe - Found you through my friend Tracy. Have you heard of the Liz Logelin foundation (http://thelizlogelinfoundation.org/)? Matt Logelin started it after losing his wife shortly after the birth of their daughter Madeline. His website http://www.mattlogelin.com/ and book Two Kisses for Maddy chronicles what they went through. The book was amazing, and I've heard the community he is a part of is a great source of support.
ReplyDeleteHey April,
DeleteYes, I've heard of it. Someone posted a comment on here sometime last week with the link, though I didn't know about the book. I'm a book guy, so that might be good to check out. The foundation looks promising as well, so I'll be seeing what kind of support they can offer. Thank you for your consideration!