Although I have a brother and sister I had the upbringing of an only child. I was eight when my brother was born and ten when my sister followed but by that point my parents had been divorced for six years and as a result of me living with my dad I never lived with either of them. 

Many things people who weren’t brought up in a similar situation, with a single parent dad and being the only kid, find it difficult to understand when you try to explain some of the complexes this gives you as the child. Don’t get me wrong, my childhood was fucking amazing, all I remember is good times and summer skateboarding sessions in the park with my old man, I say old man, when I was five he was 27. One of the things I mean by a complex is a general worry that you’re a constant burden on your parents social and love life, you figure out from a pretty young age that when most single twenty something women find out that a guy’s got kid, they’re more than likely to run the other way, it’s nothing personal, it’s just at that age people are starting to think about families of their own and inheriting someone else’s doesn’t fit in with most folks plans.

I knew the day would come eventually when I’d have to leave home and find a place of my own, I never dreaded the idea but a certain part of me always felt that by moving away my dad would be alone. He’d had girlfriends over the years, I’d met and hung out with a few of them, they’d come over to the flat, play some N64, it was sweet, I never really got the impression any of them would be around for longer than a year or two though and subsequently, none of them were. About three years ago though he met Katie, a vocal coach from Sheffield through a mutual friend and within about four months she’d moved in with us. Something was different about this one, obviously it was a little strange at first having someone else living with me and my dad after 15 years of just me and him but I soon realised that she was the missing link. He’d finally met someone as ridiculous as himself, someone he could see the world with and someone he fitted with. Sometimes the best things are worth waiting for and I think this is the best example life has given me so far. 

I can be a bit cynical when it comes to the idea of life partners sometimes, I don’t really have to look beyond my own family to see that longevity isn’t always on loves side, my grandparents on my mums side nearly got divorced about ten years ago but resided to the conclusion that ultimately they were “a bit too old for it.” Situations like this are what lead some to believe that love is bullshit and for a while I felt the same way. Life however has a funny way of changing your opinion sometimes and seeing my dad happy has been a big part of that, Katie isn’t going anywhere and I wouldn’t want it any other way.