“I’m just trying to make sure that my son is a better me. I got...

“I’m just trying to make sure that my son is a better me. I got on the right track late. I had my son when I was eighteen. I was constantly running away from my responsibilities. When I was twenty-one, I left one morning to go to the store, got arrested for possession, and didn’t come back for eight months. When I came back, everything was out of whack. We were behind on the bills. We were almost evicted. My son was acting out in school. It shocked me into doing the right thing. I got a job in construction and started going to school. Now I work in IT. Recently, I had a conference with my son’s teachers. They told me that his problems were talking with friends and not paying attention. I actually laughed. I couldn’t believe those counted as problems. When I was his age, my problems were food and shelter.”