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    Vitiligo After COVID-19 Vaccination: Is My Daughter an Early Case?

    — December 27, 2021 — The vaccine clinic for kids ages 5-11 organized by our local school district was a hot mess. Parents were required to confirm an appointment time, but it did nothing but guarantee a spot in a long, snaking line behind scores of other families that inched along the hallways of a junior...

    Vitiligo After COVID-19 Vaccination: Is My Daughter an Early Case?Johnathon E. Briggs

    A Family Portrait 46 Years In Making

    — November 15, 2021 — Seated at a table this past spring in the courtyard of a nursing home, I squeezed into the frame of my iPhone camera and snapped a selfie with my parents. In this fifth decade of my life, it’s the only photo I have of the three of us together. It’s...

    A Family Portrait 46 Years In MakingJohnathon E. Briggs

    Finding My Father While Preparing to Lose Him

    Editor's note: This post was inspired by Modern Love, the New York Times column that explores "relationships, feelings, betrayals, and revelations." It contains passages from previously published posts. — March 27, 2021 — Over the past 15 years, I've lost and found my father several times. I first found him in 2006, when I arrived in the...

    Finding My Father While Preparing to Lose HimJohnathon E. Briggs

    The Death I Expected Wasn’t the Death that Found Me

    — December 29, 2020 — Thin and frail at 89, my father, Edward, lost his balance and fell on the grounds of his apartment complex in Inglewood, Calif. He spent ten days in a hospital before being discharged to a nursing home. This was October. My aunt (his sister), Linda, and I concluded that Edward could...

    The Death I Expected Wasn’t the Death that Found MeJohnathon E. Briggs

    A New, More Hopeful Chapter in America

    — November 8, 2020 — I opened my front door Saturday morning to find a surprise on the porch: a 25-pound box containing an impressive selection of wines, including a merlot from Washington, a Pinot Noir from Argentina, and a Vinno Rosso from Italy. My wife and I were utterly confused: "Who sent this? Maybe...

    A New, More Hopeful Chapter in AmericaJohnathon E. Briggs

    Preparing for a School Year Like No Other

    — July 19, 2020 — The long-awaited email from our local school district arrived the evening of July 13 with a generic subject line that underscored the importance of its content: “2020-2021 Return to Learn Plan.” Ever since schools closed nationwide in March to help halt the spread of novel coronavirus, my wife and I—like millions...

    Preparing for a School Year Like No OtherJohnathon E. Briggs

    The Weight of It All: Reflections of a Black Father on the Killing of George Floyd

    — June 4, 2020 — The first time I saw the bystander video of George Floyd, handcuffed, lying face down in the street, pleading for air as a Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck—for eight minutes and 46 seconds—until he suffocated, a sense of horror overcame me. The televised shock of it...

    The Weight of It All: Reflections of a Black Father on the Killing of George FloydJohnathon E. Briggs

    When Coronavirus Comes to Daycare

    — May 27, 2020 — Three days before Memorial Day weekend, the coronavirus pandemic touched our daycare. With more than 1.7 million people in the U.S. infected and 100,000 deaths, I guess you could say (to echo Effie Trinket from "The Hunger Games") the odds were ever NOT in our favor. The email last Wednesday from the...

    When Coronavirus Comes to DaycareJohnathon E. Briggs

    Existing While Black is a Pre-Existing Condition

    — April 19, 2020 — Amid the sobering data that shows the coronavirus is infecting and killing black Americans at disproportionately high rates across the country, I see the lives of black fathers cut short. Like mighty oaks and young saplings being leveled in a forest, the virus has taken down proud patriarchs who anchored...

    Existing While Black is a Pre-Existing ConditionJohnathon E. Briggs

    Making Our Way Through the Boxes

    — April 5, 2020 — Among the list of tracks on Lauryn Hill’s 2002 MTV Unplugged album is a song titled “I Get Out” where the chorus begins: I get out, I’ll get out of all your boxes… But if you’re fortunate enough to have a roof over your head, internet access, good health, and a...

    Making Our Way Through the BoxesJohnathon E. Briggs

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    About

    Few may know this, but twice as many dads of newborns today are now in the 40-plus age group, compared to the 1970s. Six weeks before my 40th birthday, I became a first-time father, hence the title of this blog.

    This life-changing moment made me think about my own dad, who became a father at 43. As my parenthood journey unfolded, I noticed that most of my friends had become parents earlier in life yet, here I was, changing diapers and battling sleep deprivation at (nearly) 40. I told my wife, “Parenting is definitely a young man’s game.” But is it really?

    Where most of my friends were preparing for their children’s middle and high school graduations, I was mastering the art of the swaddle, perfecting the one-hand baby wipe, and learning to decipher my daughter’s gurgles and whimpers. It occurred to me that I had so much more to offer my daughter at the sure-footed age of 40 than I did at, say, 28, when I was still coming into my own.

    Fatherhood@Forty: Memoirs of a Gen X Suburban Dad™ is a creative outlet to share my experiences and connect with other (relatively) late-in-life dads.

    Here are a few factoids about me, Johnathon Briggs, the editor behind this blog:

    • I’m a former journalist (Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune).
    • I love exploring Chicago and the Midwest with my family.
    • I remain on a constant quest to stay fit.
    • I support charities that fight HIV, uplift families affected by incarceration, and ensure African American boys graduate from college.
    • I’m a comic book geek (mostly Marvel, but a bit of DC and Image Comics).
    • I’m a child of the ‘80s, so please expect occasional references to the Golden Age of Hip-Hop.

    As a reporter for daily newspapers, I had the opportunity to interview fascinating people and to test out great products and brands for my readers. I hope to do the same for you as I blog about the moments that make up this adventure called fatherhood.

    Feel free to tweet (@fatherhoodforty) or email ([email protected]) me if you’d like to collaborate or have ideas for a blog post.

    Father on,

    P.S. Check out The Art of Conversation podcast interview I did with Art Eddy from Life of Dad.

     

    Disclaimer: Fatherhood@Forty may contain affiliate marketing links, which may result in commission on sales of products or services I write about. My editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. This disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR § 255.5: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

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    About

    Few may know this, but twice as many dads of newborns today are now in the 40-plus age group, compared to the 1970s. Six weeks before my 40th birthday, I became a first-time father, hence the title of this blog.

    This life-changing moment made me think about my own dad, who became a father at 43. As my parenthood journey unfolded, I noticed that most of my friends had become parents earlier in life yet, here I was, changing diapers and battling sleep deprivation at (nearly) 40. I told my wife, “Parenting is definitely a young man’s game.” But is it really?

    Where most of my friends were preparing for their children’s middle and high school graduations, I was mastering the art of the swaddle, perfecting the one-hand baby wipe, and learning to decipher my daughter’s gurgles and whimpers. It occurred to me that I had so much more to offer my daughter at the sure-footed age of 40 than I did at, say, 28, when I was still coming into my own.

    Fatherhood@Forty: Memoirs of a Gen X Suburban Dad™ is a creative outlet to share my experiences and connect with other (relatively) late-in-life dads.

    Here are a few factoids about me, Johnathon Briggs, the editor behind this blog:

    • I’m a former journalist (Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune).
    • I love exploring Chicago and the Midwest with my family.
    • I remain on a constant quest to stay fit.
    • I support charities that fight HIV, uplift families affected by incarceration, and ensure African American boys graduate from college.
    • I’m a comic book geek (mostly Marvel, but a bit of DC and Image Comics).
    • I’m a child of the ‘80s, so please expect occasional references to the Golden Age of Hip-Hop.

    As a reporter for daily newspapers, I had the opportunity to interview fascinating people and to test out great products and brands for my readers. I hope to do the same for you as I blog about the moments that make up this adventure called fatherhood.

    Feel free to tweet (@fatherhoodforty) or email ([email protected]) me if you’d like to collaborate or have ideas for a blog post.

    Father on,

    P.S. Check out The Art of Conversation podcast interview I did with Art Eddy from Life of Dad.

     

    Disclaimer: Fatherhood@Forty may contain affiliate marketing links, which may result in commission on sales of products or services I write about. My editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. This disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR § 255.5: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
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