Name: Kip Futrell | City: Victorville | IG: @kipsfit
What does being a father mean to you?
To me, being a father is everything. It’s responsibility, leadership, strength, comfort, and safety. You are responsible for another life (lives for me). If you weren’t a leader before you sure are now. You are forced to be strong for the ones who cannot. You are a comforter and a safety blanket. When I’m around my children should feel no fear. A father is the Keystone of a child’s sanity.
Describe your experience with your father growing up and how that impacted you today.
I didn’t meet my father until I was 8, and it was scary….for about 30 minutes. My father lost his eyesight to cancer when he was six and I had never met a person without literal eyeballs before (literally). But this man…this man that I didn’t even know….did nothing but love me and make me feel safe. Blind as he was was Dad could always show me the way. Over the years we would connect and reconnect time and again (we’re both terrible at keeping in contact with people) but Everytime we saw each other it was like we never missed a day. My father, the blind pastor from a small nowhere city in Virginia, is my hero. Through all of his surgeries, the pain, the regrets, and the suffering….he was strong. He was a force. Couldn’t see worth a damn but he would snap on you if you crossed a line. That man was everything that I hope to become. He died on Feb16, 2015, and I literally haven’t been the same since. Every move I make I question, “What would Dad do?” And I pray that my decisions make him proud.
What things did you take from your experience growing up into your own fatherhood journey?
I’ve taken a lot of things from my mother (because she raised me). Most of which I have had to struggle and fight to eliminate. My mother was quick to get frustrated with “stupidity” and that’s a trait that I carry with me as well. Problem is….kids do dumb things….like all the time lol. So that is an ongoing battle. But one thing both of my parents bestowed upon me was not being afraid to love on my kids, wherever we may be.
Have you had any obstacles on your fatherhood journey? If so, explain.
Growing up without a father figure, and having intermittent contact with mine in the beginnings of my fatherhood, I had a VERY hard time just knowing what to do in general. How do you play with a baby? How do you let them know that things are going to be ok? I was and still am just afraid of doing this whole father thing wrong
What advice would you give others new on their fatherhood journey?
Trust yourself. As your child’s father, your heart will guide you in the right direction. Point blank period. If you’re worried about doing a good job, you’re doing a good job. And make some father friends…they help….a lot lol.
If you wanted to write a quick letter to your father, starting with “Dear Father,” what would you say?
Dear Father, Thank you. For being who you were.
Name some other dope fathers you cosign.
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