Growing up, Marvin Ramos had few role models in terms of fatherhood.

“I didn’t see nobody doing what they need to do to their kids, like feed them,” he tells The Takeaway‘s John Hockenberry. “I didn’t see that from my father. I didn’t have a model.”

Today, at the age of 18, Ramos has a one-year-old daughter, Hailey. As he prepared to celebrate Father’s Day with his daughter, Ramos reflected on his family, and his hopes for his daughter’s future.

Fatherless

Three of Marvin’s brothers had children when they were young. About a year ago, their father left the family, leaving Ramos without a fatherly figure to guide him as he became a dad.

Watch this 24-second video of Hailey’s birthday celebration:

“I’m going to try to give the best time to my daughter — something I didn’t have,” he says.

Marvin is part of Radio Rookies, a project of Takeaway co-producer WNYC. He says he learned a lot about himself and his family through reporting his first radio story.

Be Present

His most important lesson? “Just be there,” he says. “You don’t want them running to anyone else but you.”

Marvin’s hoping to complete his high school diploma this year. He admits that he wasn’t much of a presence in his daughter’s life until recently. This Father’s Day was his second, but he’s recommitted himself to Hailey and her mother, Ramos’s girlfriend, Stephanie.

Ramos wants to strengthen his bond with his daughter, to “spend the greatest time with her while [she’s] young, because when they get older, they want to do what they want to do. And then when they get older, they’ll remember, wow. I had a great dad.”

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Originally published at WNYC Studios.
Podcast produced by Arwa Gunja and Jillian Weinberger at WNYC.