Omando O'Gilvie
I fix heating and cooling systems for a living. I am also trying to fix the gaps between me and my kids, between the man I was and the father I am becoming. This blog is where I do that work out loud.
The Story Behind The Intent
I was not always a writer. I was a salesman. Then a tradesman. Then a father trying to figure out how to do all of it at once across three countries with three kids who each deserved more of me than the version of me that existed in the early years.
I started The Intent because I kept looking for writing that spoke to fathers like me. Immigrant dads. Long-distance dads. Dads who carry complicated histories and are still trying to show up fully. Dads who grew up without a template for emotional presence and are building one in real time. I kept coming up short. Most of what I found was too soft or too generic. Nobody was writing from inside the actual mess of it.
So I decided to. Not as an expert. As someone in the middle of the work, paying attention, telling the truth about what I find.
The Three People This Is Really For
A graduate of the University of the West Indies, Kingston, with a degree in International Relations. Composed, sharp, carrying herself in a way that still catches me off guard. Lives in Kingston with her mom and stepfather.
A York University graduate in Financial and Business Economics. Kind and loving. A man who loves his own company and owns it without apology. Lives with his mom and stepdad in Canada.
Ten years old. Home. Full of opinions and questions and the kind of energy that keeps you honest every single day. Reggae at 6am is for her. So is most of what I write.
One thing I discovered that stopped me in my tracks -- all three of my children share the same Life Path Number: 1. In numerology, the number 1 represents the leader, the pioneer, the one who forges their own path. Independent. Driven. Born to stand at the front. I did not plan that. But I am not surprised. Each of them came here with something to prove and the instinct to prove it entirely on their own terms. Three different mothers. Three different countries. One number. The universe was trying to tell me something.
Three kids. Three mothers. Three countries. The geography was never the plan. The intention behind it always was.
Who I Am Outside of Fatherhood
I was born in St. Thomas, Jamaica on June 7, 1981. I grew up across St. Thomas, St. Andrew, and Kingston -- but the majority of my life was shaped in Kingston. That city taught me how to read a room, how to hustle without apology, and how to find familiarity in unfamiliar places. I relocated over thirty times while living in Jamaica. New York was just the next address.
I spent over twenty years in sales. Gas station in Downtown Kingston. Car dealership. Heavy commercial vehicles and industrial equipment. Sales Representative from 2011 until I boarded a plane in 2022. I came to New York and walked into HVAC through a connection and a willingness to start at the bottom of something new. I have not looked back.
I live in New York with my partner Nia and my daughter Avi. I spend my days working on leaving a legacy for my kids to grow and leave for their kids.
"The most powerful thing a father can model is not how to push through everything. It is how to know when to stop, refill, and begin again."
Omando O'GilvieOne Essay. Every Sunday Morning.
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