The Beginning

It was November of 2018 and I had been out of work since May. The reason, my wife and I decided that because I have other sources of income, it would be best if I resigned from my job and stayed at home with our 4 month old son instead of sending him to daycare. We felt it would be best if our son was in our care at all times after seeing some pretty horrible things happen at daycare facilities around the country. It was a pretty big sacrifice, but it was one I was willing to make for my family. I really enjoyed the time I was able to spend with my son, especially as he grew and did new things. But during his nap times, which were rather long in the earlier stages of his life,  I started to notice how I would kinda just sit around and wait for the baby to wake up. After a few months of doing this on a daily basis, I saw that it was starting to have a negative affect on me. I’m used to being busy and having a task or job to complete. Tending to my son wasn’t a job, but it kept my busy. But personally, I needed something else to give my effort to during the down time. So I started thinking. I started thinking about my life as a father and the sacrifices I was willing to make for my family. I thought about the love I have for my wife and my son. I thought about the pride I have in being called a “husband” and a “dad” and how much of a privilege that is. I also thought about what the word “dad” really means. Of course it means father. But to a person like myself with somewhat of an art background, the actual letters in the word “dad” could describe so much more. And in the process of having all of these thoughts, it dawned on me. I’m going to put all of this down time I have into creating something that describes exactly who I am as a dad and as a person. And to me, there was no better way to say it than “Dope And Dedicated”. From there, the rest is pretty much what you see here. I combined the knowledge that I have with something that I was passionate about which is being a father. I soon found all my time was now consumed with being a husband, dad and  a small business owner. I felt like I had a job to complete and task to attend to. It almost felt like I was working again. It brought on more to accomplish, but I like the balance.


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