--- description: 'Growing up without a father made me realize just how special time is with my son' title: Meek Mill: Growing Up Without a Father Made Me Realize Just How Special Time Is With My Son image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5be627b9da4c30b5/6988557055a85906cda8c977/meek-mill.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Parenting](/tag/parenting/) ## Parenting Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Meek Mill: Being a Father Means Giving My Son the Life He Deserves by [Meek Mill](/author/meek-mill/) ## Meek Mill Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 19, 2015 6:39 PM CUT  Meek Mill with his son. Meek Mill with his son.Photo courtesy of author by [Meek Mill](/author/meek-mill/) ## Meek Mill Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 19, 2015 6:39 PM CUT As a father, now I get to give my son the life I never had. Being able to give him anything he wants is one of the best feelings in the world—but it’s also scary. When you see how much one person can trust you, look up to you, and depend on you, the last thing you want to do is disappoint them. The fact that no one can teach you how to be a father means you are always learning on the job. I love my son with all my heart, and I would do anything for him. It’s a crazy feeling knowing that I will help him become a great man. With my career and my crazy schedule, sometimes it’s tough to be able to spend the amount of time with him that I want and that he deserves. After spending time away from him, one of my favorite things to do is get on my four wheeler with my little man in tow. Picture us riding around my neighborhood waving at all my neighbors. My son is fearless on his bike. Those are the moments I think about when I’m on the road. Before I leave, I always explain to him that everything I do, I do for him. All the shows, all the nights in the studio, I do with my son in mind. It doesn’t make it any easier, but I’m blessed to be in the financial situation that I’m in. I’m grateful I don’t have to think twice about whether there is going to be food on his table. My son doesn’t have to worry about that the way that I did—nor does the rest of my family. I’m not just a father to my son, but a provider to my whole family. I provide for them not because I have to, but because I want to. They have all been there for me through my highs and lows. They’ve always made sure I was taken care of, and now it’s my turn to take care of them. I never had a strong male figure in my life. I didn’t have that person to teach me things fathers teach their sons because my father was killed when I was young. It was just me, my mom, and my sister, so I had to be the man of the house. When I was younger, I remember being able to speak to my father and then in the blink of an eye, he was gone. My mom played the role of both mom and dad. We had nothing growing up, so my mom worked any job she could find to provide for me and my sister. I love her so much for that. But as much as I appreciated everything my mother did for me, she couldn’t fill the space that a father should hold in a child’s life. I still miss my dad, and I always will. Growing up without a father made me realize just how special time is with my son and how much of an impact I can have on his life. There are so many single mothers out there struggling to fill both roles, raising their families all by themselves. They don’t get the credit they deserve. There’s not enough ways to really say thank you, but we celebrate them, too, for all they do. To all my family and friends who are celebrating Father’s Day with their children, we salute you for being role models for all the young fathers in our community. ### Father's Day Special: LIFE With Famous Dads and Their Daughters  John Barrymore and daughter Diana, 1942. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Alfred Hitchcock and daughter Patricia, 1942. Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Orson Wells, Rita Hayworth and daughter Rebecca, 1945. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Michael Redgrave and daughter Lynn, 1946. Ian Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gary Cooper and daughter Maria, 1949. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackie and Rachel Robinson with their infant daughter, Sharon, Los Angeles, 1950. J.R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Pablo Picasso and daughter Paloma, 1951. Dmitri Kessel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Harry Truman and daughter Margaret, 1952. George Skadding—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Desi Arnaz with daughter Lucie, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Jr., 1953. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Richard Burton and daughter Kate, 1957. Gordon Parks—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  John F. Kennedy with daughter Caroline, 1958. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Dean Martin with daughter Gina Caroline, 1958. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Tony Curtis with daughter Jamie Lee, 1959. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  John Glenn with daughter Lyn, 1959. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Henry Fonda with daughter Jane, 1960. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Ann-Margret with her father Gustav Olsson, 1961. Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Burt Lancaster with daughter Sighle (pronounced Sheila), 1961. Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Al Hirschfeld with his daughter Nina, 1961. Bob Gomel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Astronaut Scott Carpenter with daughter Candy, 1962. Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  John Mills with daughter Hayley, 1962. Ralph Crane—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Steve McQueen kisses his daughter Terry goodnight in 1963. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Robert F. Kennedy with daughter Mary, 1963. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Lyndon Johnson with daughters Lucy and Lynda, 1964. Stan Wayman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton and daughter Hayley, 1965. Stan Wayman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy (with Yul Brynner), 1965. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Charlie Chaplin with daughters Josephine and Victoria, 1966. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Charles M. Schulz and daughter Jill, 1967. Bill Ray—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Paul Newman with daughter Clea and wife Joanne Woodward, 1968. Mark Kauffman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Robert Redford and daughter Shauna, 1969. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Dustin Hoffman with his daughter Karina, 1969. John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jack Nicholson and daughter Jennifer, 1969. Arthur Schatz—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Donald Sutherland and daughter Rachel, 1970. Co Rentmeester—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Richard Nixon and daughter Patricia, 1971. Walter Bennett—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Bill Clinton with daughter Chelsea and wife Hillary, 1993. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Father's Day 2015: Meek Mill ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3928286/fathers-day-meek-mill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3928286/fathers-day-meek-mill/"},"headline":"Meek Mill: Being a Father Means Giving My Son the Life He Deserves","datePublished":"2015-06-19T18:39:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:56.652Z","description":"'Growing up without a father made me realize just how special time is with my son'","url":"https://time.com/3928286/fathers-day-meek-mill/","keywords":["Parenting"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5be627b9da4c30b5/6988557055a85906cda8c977/meek-mill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Meek Mill","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/meek-mill/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5be627b9da4c30b5/6988557055a85906cda8c977/meek-mill.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Meek-Mill","caption":"Meek Mill with his son.","creditText":"Photo courtesy of author","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/parenting/","name":"Parenting"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3928286/fathers-day-meek-mill/","name":"Meek Mill: Being a Father Means Giving My Son the Life He Deserves"}}]}] ```