Last fall, during the federal government shutdown, Tim Laughlin found himself furloughed with time on his hands and nowhere to put it. He'd been going to a weekly dads' meetup in Alexandria, and it had done more for him than he expected — kept him grounded, kept him sane. But once the shutdown ended and he went back to work, he couldn't make it to those sessions anymore. So he decided to build his own.
He started small — just email invitations to a handful of guys. The first dinner drew nine people. Now, nearly a year later, it's grown into a full Facebook community, with about two dozen dads showing up every single Tuesday night to a Buffalo Wild Wings in Manassas.
Every Tuesday at 5:30, the same long table near the bar fills up with dads talking about work, kids, fantasy football — nothing political, nothing about networking, just guys hanging out.
The connections have gone beyond dinner, too. There are Nationals games, camping trips, pool parties — even a painting and ice cream night that brought in spouses and kids. And when Tim's family had an emergency and he needed somewhere for his kids to stay while he rushed to the hospital, one of the dads said yes without a second thought.
What started as one guy hoping for a standing Tuesday night hangout has turned into something much bigger — a support system these dads didn't know they needed.