his is a great question. I'm not sure how to answer it. I have been a single father for almost half my life. I got my first girlfriend pregnant when I was 17. At the time I was a high school drop out and working as Bookseller for the now defunct B.Datlon. Because of my age I think I had a number of experiences that many fathers never get to have, but I also have been frequently alienated from my peers.
At 18 many of my friends were going off to college or landing in jail. I was getting ready for the birth of Amber. I moved out of my parents using some adminstrative finesse I had gained over the years of dealing with being in trouble at various points. We got ourselves into a three floor two bedroom town house that we could afford. We both made minimum wage at the time. By the time Amber was 2 my relationship with her mother had broken down.
At the time when the relationship broke down all of my friends were off at college. I had fortunately just finished a GED and gotten a great new job at Bloomingdales By Mail. I worked there while attending community college for the next four years.