Meet Brandon Morales
Written by: Brandon Morales
Life is full of firsts.
Your first-time driving, first time drinking (a legal) beer, a first fight, its all of these things that create and shape the person you become. You can prepare for so many things in life, but no matter the scenario the first of anything is always an exhilarating experience.
Now take that feeling, but multiply it by a million, that’s the sheer adrenaline/fear/anxiety/excitement/etc. that grips at you when you’re in the delivery room.
If you’re a father (maybe a mother, who knows who will read this) you know the feeling I am speaking of. It is absolute controlled chaos it seems. And suddenly, when you see and meet your child for the first time, that moment stays with you forever.
Time itself seems to stop. Every fear you had suddenly vanishes. Its absolute joy and the purest form of love you can ever feel. Welcome to fatherhood, welcome to Dad Hats, our little corner of the world where we can come together to proudly share what it means to be a father and celebrate in the joys, share in the strife’s and see that we truly are not alone in any of this.
When I was approached to be a part of this journey with the barker, I was excited and also hesitant. Let’s lay it all out there, I am a first-time father to a now ten and a half months old, a full-time employee working 40-50 hours a week, and oh yea, a full-time student finishing up my bachelor’s degree in an accelerated online program at Cal Baptist. So maybe hesitant is understating things a little.
It is not that I didn’t want to be a part of this, or have any issues sharing my journey, it was more so worry that I wouldn’t be able to give my very best due to the rest of the things I am juggling. Then I thought about it for a while, I absolutely love talking about my son and being a father. The best part of my day is getting off work and (depending on the day) picking my son up from the babysitter or going home and seeing him, either way his face lights up and it just fills my heart with absolute love and pride.
So, let’s get into a little bit about me and what I plan to bring to the table for you, the readers.
I know NOTHING about being a father, other than experiences I have been a part of growing. I come from a few different scenarios all coupled into one. My parents divorced when I was about two, so I have no memories of them ever being together. I lived with my mom and the man who became my stepdad, we can call him “Larry”. On the weekends I would stay with my dad, and Wednesday nights I would also go with him.
I don’t want to bore you with details, nor paint some sob story “woe is me” type of picture here, so let’s just cut to the facts. “Larry” was an abusive piece of S***. I can tell you I learned every part of how to NOT be a father from him, All the things he did wrong, the way he spoke, just him as a person was the exact opposite of what a man should be.
My father would strive for anything and everything. He would fight LA traffic coming from Irvine to pick me up then fight the traffic all the way to Corona, just because it meant the world to him to have me with him. Those long drives, in traffic, might not seem like a great gig, but I tell you, it was in those times where I felt I learned and grew the most.
Long talks about everything.
Religion, politics, music, sports, etc. you name it and it was covered in those drives. Those meant the most to me because now as a grown man I see the lengths my dad went through for me. It is a constant reminder to me that I have no reason to not also give the same effort, if not more for my son.
I feel like I am rambling now at this point, so how about we get back and focus, I didn’t have the most luxurious life growing up, but neither did the other half of the Dad Hats leadership. Nevertheless, we do our best and we both have made some exceptional lives for ourselves and our families. Were both figuring things out and finding our footing as fathers as we go.
So, we invite you to join us on this journey. Give us a follow in Instagram, or shoot me a DM or an email. Were here to discuss topics of fatherhood, gain insights from other fathers on scenarios they have faced and to create a forum of sorts where we can share awesome stories and help all of us become the best fathers we can be for our children.
I am excited for the journey and can’t wait to hear from you all.
- Brandon Morales
