NATCHEZ — Charles Knight said as a younger man he wanted to do things his own way.

But doing things his own way did not always work out the way he planned.

“I ended up getting in a lot of trouble,” he said.

Knight said in his mid-teens he started hanging out with the wrong crowd and spent a great deal of time in and out of jail.

Now at 48, Knight has gotten his life on track.

But looking back on that period Knight said one of his biggest mistakes was not heeding his father’s warnings to get his life in order.

“I should have listened to the things he had to say,” he said.

Charles’ father agrees.

When Edward Knight speaks about his son he has an almost stoic tone.

“I tried to tell him to do right,” he said.

Edward described the years when his son was in and out of trouble as a time when he “didn’t feel alright.”

“It wasn’t a bad upbringing,” Edward said.

“He just wanted to do what he wanted,” he said.

Charles’ last stint in prison was nearly six years long for a burglary charge.

He’s been out for nearly two years now.

His father looks optimistically toward the future.

“That’s behind him now” he said. “He’s a much better child now.”

And now on this Father’s Day Charles looks with his own father to the future.

“I’m blessed to be with him,” he said.