Glad that so many fathers in here are using this opportunity to connect with their kids and loved ones.
What happened with VJax? We may never truly know and I agree with others including
@Joe Bryant that it doesn't matter to most of us, what matters is how we go forward in our own lives. I love talking football on these boards and many of us have had the pleasure now for over 2 decades to find a safe place to post and discuss, learn and grow, some of us including myself take longer sometimes.
I called my 21-year old son last night and I just let him know that I believe in him and that I stand with him in his choices thus far. It might not be what i would have decided but nobody came down on me when I was his age, in fact i lost my mother when she was 46 to cancer, I was 21, same age as my son. It was an epic conversation as he was working an overnight, he manages or is in management at Publix, he's been working hard on the front lines this entire time and moving ahead. I love him almost too much at times and I didn't really get to have him until he was 18 so we've been making up for lost time. I'm grateful everyday i have him and I am so thankful his mother did not honor my initial wishes(think about that).
The icing on the cake was this past Super Bowl, he was born and now lives in St Pete/Tampa and I am one of the luckiest men on this entire message board. I know so many dads or men do not get the opportunity I have been afforded to connect at a later age in their lives. One of the things I try and do is let go of the mic and let him talk, don't inject my opinion(but he asks) all the time, I actually learn a lot thru him and he keeps me sharp on all the latest tech and gadgets and such.
I worked hard in the last year with folks like
@bostonfred @krista4 @Otis and those are probably not the three names you would associate with me but they gave me a chance to prove I wanted to make some changes and it's allowed me to put myself in position to succeed in my relationships and be the father I always wanted to be(still a work in progress)...and i have a lot to learn and I still have a lot of growing to do in how I treat people in general but I'm making progress.
Reach out if you can and let those you love know how much you love them.
Cheers Everyone!