Age: 42

# of Children: 3

 # of Foster Children: 0

Single or Married: Married

What is your favorite story about you FATHERing? Why?

I work hard to instill morals and values to my kids. Teaching them right from wrong and how to make good decisions. One Saturday, I was at my home computer when my oldest son, who was about 7 or 8 at the time, was outside with his friends. I had told him that there was an area in the back of our house that was OFF LIMITS. This was in Mississippi and there was thick brush known to have poisonous snakes. He was with 4 friends who liked to go back there and mess around. My son didn’t know I could hear the conversation but one child said hey lets go back in the brush. They all said “Yeah!” except my son. He said “I’m not going have fun.” One other boy said “Why are you afraid to go back there?” My son replied “No my Dad said I can’t go back there it’s off limits.” The other child said “Bah you’re just scared of it!” My son replied “Nope I am scared of my Dad; have you seen how big he is?” Then my son said “I’m not going! Who wants to go ride bikes?”

That’s when I knew I was doing something right! Most kids don’t think of the consequences; they just react, but I was creating a new way of thinking in him. This way of thinking made him consider what might happen with the choice he was making. At 8 years old, that’s not easy to do. I have always told my kids, “It’s harder to be a leader than it is to be a follower. Always be a leader and you can always control if you get into trouble or not!”

Tell us a funny story related to your personal FATHERing experience:

Ok, I like to be a BIG KID and have fun so when my oldest son was about 2 yrs old I taught him to say, “Hey baby!” We’d practice this with cute girls in the grocery store while I pushed him around in the shopping cart. We even had a signal! I would push my eyebrows up and down when I looked at a girl and he knew when to say it. Women would come and talk to him and say how cute he was and then he would say “Hey baby.” Ok maybe it wasn’t the best thing to teach my kid, but man it was funny!

Do you have any hidden talents?

I sing.

Name something you consider yourself to be very good at as a FATHER:

Balancing being a best friend and a FATHER with my kids. They think it’s odd that all their friend’s parents are so messed up. Even their friends come to our house and call me pops. I even get many of them who come ask me for advise, or get my son to do it.

What is your earliest memory? 

I was 5 yrs old. It was Christmas 1975. There was a room full of gifts. Not just a lot of gifts, but I couldn’t even walk into the living room! We had to start in the hallway and work our way in. Bad memory: My father hitting my mother the same year.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a NFL football player.

If you could have any SUPERPOWER, what would it be?

The ability to control time: rewind, fast forward, stop it and slow it down. All of that without memory loss. 

What are you passionate about?

Making sure my kids have a better shot at being successful in life than I had.

What outdoor activities do you like to do?

We like fishing, camping, and riding motorcycles. 

What do you think the greatest invention is in your lifetime and why?

Computers, they have changed everything. The way we live will never be the same:  the way we communicate, read, get news, play games, medical advancements have all changed because of computers.

What is your goal in life? Do you think you will achieve it?

My goal in life is to be remembered as a good person to all, a great father to my kids, a good husband to my wife and a humble servent to God. I hope so.

A note from James: It’s easy to see Shawn loves his family! We honor him today, but really want to thank Shawn for FATHERing well!