JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Malik Smith remembers the gnawing question that loomed over his childhood: “Why doesn’t my dad want to be in my life?”
It’s a questioned that left him feeling unworthy.
But he said it changed when his stepfather entered his life and chose to embrace him as his own.
Now 29 and engaged, Smith carries those early life lessons as he prepares for his own journey into parenthood.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly one in four American children - approximately 17.4 million - live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in the home. However, research shows that positive father figures, including stepfathers, can significantly impact children’s emotional and social development.
Smith’s approach to future fatherhood has been shaped by both the absence he experienced and the presence that healed it. He’s deliberately waited to have children until finding a committed relationship to give his future kid a father he or she knows will stay.
“That meant a lot to me,” Smith said about his stepfather being there. “I’m getting married later this year. I’m excited to start this journey and give my future child the love that I feel like every child deserves.”
News4Jax spoke with several northeast Florida locals about those who impacted their lives as dads and father figures.
Nicholas Srozinski is celebrating his first Father’s Day as a dad.
“[My dad has] been an important role model in my life,” he said with his 6-month-old in his arms. “To help me grow up and become the man that I am today and the father that I am now.”
Devin Rivera is a football player at Oakleaf High School. He said both his biological dad and stepdad are present and involved in everything he does.
“Without the father figures in my life, I don’t think I would be where I am today,” he said.
News4Jax wants to hear about the fathers in your life:
Share your stories in the comments.
