Patton Oswalt has a wonderful new essay at GQ today where he reflects on the sudden death of his wife and “super-mom” Michelle McNamara earlier this year and how, despite thinking at times that he couldn’t do it on his own, he’s beginning to find his groove as a single father to his 7-year-old daughter Alice. “You will never be prepared for anything you do, ever,” Oswalt says in the piece. “Not the first time. Training and practice are out the window the second they meet experience. But you’ll get better. I have subjective yet ironclad knowledge of this.” Here’s another excerpt:
This is my first time being a single father. I’ve missed forms for school. I’ve forgotten to stock the fridge with food she likes. I’ve run out of socks for her. I’ve run out of socks for me. It sucked and it was a hassle every time, but the world kept turning. I said, “Whoops, my bad,” and fixed it and kept stumbling forward. Now I know where to buy the socks she likes. I asked two parents at her school to help me with forms and scheduling. I’m getting good at sniffing out weekend activities and scheduling playdates and navigating time and the city to get her and myself where we need to go every day. I work a creative job, but I live a practical life. If I can persuade a comedy club full of indifferent drunks to like me, I can have my daughter ready for soccer on a Saturday morning.
Read the whole thing over at GQ.
