A Real Life "One on One"

Last night I was waiting on a bus stop to return to school after being out and about in good old Bmore. While walking to the bus stop this guy walked by with a little girl who couldn't be any older than 1 or 2. Now the way she held on to his hand let me know that this guy was probably her father. Clad in her pink coat, pink hat, jeans, and pink hard bottoms "the little woman" seemed unphased by the cold temperatures, and instead more focused on the adventure she was having with her dad. I was happy to see an African-American man, and a young African-American man at that spending time with his daughter. So often we hear stories and see played out in the media stories about young African-American males who are irresponsible, disrepectful, unfocused, and lacking in a determination to do what is right. Now I don't know anything about how that man lives his life, but I was encouraged by his spending time with his daughter, and being a part of her life. It reminded me of my two little cousins, and one in particular 3 year old Tori who is truly her father's daughter. It's such a heart warming thing to see her love of her father played out before my very eyes. She is quick to let you know when she wants her "Daddy." Her love of her "Daddy" and the role he plays in her life goes to validate the fact that children need two parent households. But having been raised by a single mom, I can tell you that single parents can do as good a job as any in raising young people who are honest, capable, intelligent, and productive members of the community.

Too often the focus is on the women who take on the challenge of raising their children alone, but not enough is said about the men who do the exact same thing. I had a friend in middle school who was raised by his Dad. This man remains in the process of raising two young men on his own, and one of them is now a freshman in college after having attended an ultra- elite prep school here on the East Coast, and I commend him and his commitment to his two young men. Now a lot of you may know about the UPN show "One on One" which stars Kyla Pratt and Flexx Alexander. Alexander plays a father who is in the process of raising his teenage, now college aged daughther on his own. But here's a real life one on one. Click on the title of this posting for the link for the story of one young man who was determined to do right by the little woman in his life. Terrell Pough was just 16 when his daughter was born, and since then had worked hard to do what was right for her. He wanted her to have the opportunities which may not have been afforded him. Unfortunately his life was cut short, but his story is remarkable and a testament to the beauty of "fatherhood" and the potential of one in the life of a child especially his or her own. Please pray for his family and for his little girl, that her life may still be as full and as wholesome as it would have been, yet some coward not taken the life of her father.