Daddy, R U A Monster?

I am Richard Martin, Jr., born in 1976 and raised by my grandmother, along with my two sisters. I learned the power of money early in life. I hustled on the streets of New Orleans. I robbed people. I lied and cheated and, after losing my virginity at 14 years old, I began to make babies, but, most of all, I began to go through women like I was drinking water. During all of my early years—my formative years—I struggled with not having a mother and, though my father was around, I also struggled with not really having a strong father figure or even a positive male role model of any kind. Like the cliché, I looked for love in all the wrong places and when I didn’t get my way I resorted to physical violence against my lovers. And, if that wasn’t enough, in 2005 I was displaced from my home by one of the most devastating storms in U.S. history. In spite of this, I still knew one thing: I wanted to change—for the girl that I loved, but even more when I began to feel God calling me to do His will. The bad decisions I made in my life didn’t necessarily define who I was or who I could be. Many of the lessons I learned early in life I truly began to understand later in life. I would also eventually learn that God’s voice and His plans supersede everything, if you let it, if you’re a man who really wants to change. Daddy, R U A Monster? is my life story and evidence that there are no insurmountable obstacles in life, if you put God first.