The Men WhoBuilt Me
By Camille Britt
Five Men. Five Lessons. A Lifetime of Gratitude.
There is a great deal written these days about what is broken between men and women.
Some of it is necessary. Some of it is overdue.
But as I sat down to write this piece, I found myself thinking not about the disappointments, but about the gifts.
The truth is that many of the most important lessons of my life came from men.
Five in particular.
My father.
My former husband.
My oldest son.
My younger son.
And now, watching from a new season of life, my grandson.
None of them are perfect. Neither am I.
Yet each has left something valuable behind—lessons about love, resilience, courage, grace, acceptance, and hope.
When I look back across the decades, I realize that who I am today was shaped in part by the men who walked beside me.
This is their story—and the lessons they gave me.
My dad’s love shows up like a warm blanket when you need one.
The image I can always see in my mind's eye is him pulling into our yard on my ninth birthday. His red-and-white truck came up the street as the sun settled behind the treeline, creating a halo around him and the truck. He stepped out carrying a bouquet of red roses nearly as big as I was and whispered, "Happy Birthday, baby."
Even now, I can feel his love as I remember that evening standing in the yard with my sister.
He taught me that love lingers.
Only I had to live a little before that lesson could fully land.
My former husband has always been the kind of man who could fill a room with his presence, something I have struggled with my entire life. His confidence has always been something I admired because it came so naturally to him and so cautiously to me.
I have admired him for many things. His intellect—Jeopardy is definitely his game. His sense of humor. He could always make me laugh, even when I did not want to.
Most of all, he gave me the precious gift of becoming a mother.
For that, I will always be grateful.
We divorced years ago with differences unresolved, and for a long time I was angry in a hurt, scared, and confused sort of way. Eventually, I realized that our differences did not erase the good that existed between us.
I still do not agree with everything.
And that is okay.
The good remains.
He taught me that relationships can end without erasing the good that came before them.
My oldest son moves through challenges as though he is the one in charge of them rather than the other way around. As the firstborn, leadership seemed to arrive naturally, and he navigates the world with a confidence I continue to admire.
He is a strong advocate for the LGBTQ community because he walks that path himself. As his mother, I have learned that love sometimes asks us to grow in ways we never expected. In doing so, he has expanded my understanding of acceptance, compassion, and what it means to support someone you cherish.
I am proud of him in a way that is unique to who he is. He has taught me resilience.
My younger son has taught me the art of facing life's hurdles by walking straight into them.
When he was a little boy, I could never understand why his shoes were often soaked by the end of the day. Eventually, I discovered the reason. Whenever it rained, he walked straight through every puddle he encountered. While other children stepped around them, he simply went through them without giving it much thought.
That is still who he is today.
When life presents a challenge, he moves toward it rather than away from it.
He has taught me courage.
Lastly, my grandson, only three years old, has taught me to love again.
His love is warm and uncomplicated—the kind that only takes a moment before you realize you have a friend.
I know this because when he hears me walk through the door, he stops whatever he is doing and runs toward me as though he is seeing the real me. His embrace stays with me long after I leave.
This is the kind of love I hope the whole world can know.
He reminded me that love still runs to meet us.
When I think about the men in my life, I do not think about perfection.
I think about gifts.
A father whose love still lingers.
A husband who taught me that the good remains even when differences endure.
A son who taught me resilience.
A son who taught me courage.
And a grandson who reminded me that love still runs to meet us.
Perhaps that is what we need more of today—not a denial of what is broken, but a willingness to remember what is good.
The good remains.
These men helped build me.
And for that, I am grateful.
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