Hello HOPE readers!
Today I asked a friend of mine to share his experience with the loss of his father and being a father himself. Joseph A. is 28 and from Austin, MN
Okay Joe, How did losing your father effect your childhood?
"My father passed away when I was 4, the day before my 5th birthday. He passed away from brain cancer. I didn't have a father growing up and I watched everyone else have their father at their sport events and it hurt me. The only father figures I ever really had were my moms boyfriends and they were abusive. They were abusive to both my mother and I."
You have three young sons yourself, what would you want them to know about their grandfather?
"That he was very loving, he loved me so he would have loved them. He would be very proud to be a grandpa."
How are you bettering yourself for your sons?
"By completing a year long Christ centered drug treatment program, so they see a godly figure in their life and staying sober so they can have a good role model."
Thank you Joe and Randy may you rest in peace.