Blue Collar Blues [Projects.TimesFreePress.com]

Samantha Sangenito 3/11/164:00 AM

LONG BEFORE the sunrise, Tim Jones started the work of fathering. He cleared the futon of blankets and pillows, trying not to stir the 4-year-old and 9-year-old asleep on his twin bed and trundle in the living room.

Jones, a 30-year-old divorced father of two, boiled water to make hot oatmeal, a nutritious and affordable breakfast that at least his baby boy, Tariq, liked.

He studied the landscape of the day. Will it rain? What will the boys wear? Did they finish their homework?

He realized Tariq didn’t have clean pants. So he dug through dirty clothes.

Once Tariq was awake, he set a place for him at the table and watched him bow his head for a silent prayer, squeezing his small fingers into one another with surprising reverence. Timothy, the older son, skipped breakfast.

[For more of this story, written by Joy Lukachick Smith, go to http://projects.timesfreepress...ertypuzzle/jobs.html]

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