I used to be involved in my church's youth ministry, and wound up tutoring a middle school boy in math. He really didn't have a lot going for him, and he often

I used to be involved in my church's youth ministry, and wound up tutoring a middle school boy in math. He really didn't have a lot going for him, and he often wound up at my place to do chores and help out -- which I paid him for. He had a lot of potential, and was fascinated with computers. He called me up one day, and wanted to hang out -- mentioned it was his 14th birthday. I couldn't say no. He showed me places his dad used to take him, we got food, played video games -- it was a great time. But towards the end of the night he got quieter and quieter, and spontaneously burst into tears. All he wanted was a call from his dad. High school was a roller coaster, but he graduated. He's off and working a well paying job right now, and happy. I still tutor math, but the thing I've started to notice is the absolute void that's left in a young man's life when his father is absent. Samuel Sey wrote[1] a bit on this, and the statistics are staggering. 1 - https://slowtowrite.com/absentee-fathers-not-guns-are-the-problem/ https://slowtowrite.com/absentee-fathers-not-guns-are-the-pr...