TRIBUTE
TO MY
FATHER
one and lasted until her death. But, even that
didn’t keep them apart for long. He followed her
eight months later.
What Pop left as his legacy to my brother
and me is one of the simplest of things—faith
in ourselves. Since I developed into a tall, full-
lipped thin woman, I was hard to believe that I
was beautiful, but I tell everyone I did believe.
Why? Because my Pop told me so. He would say,
“Daughter, we’re pretty.” Then smile. I’d wipe
away a tear and forget about the boys who told
by: Angela Kay Austin
me my eyes were too big or I was too skinny.
“PEEWEE” IS WHAT THEY CALLED MY POP Screw them, what did they know?
because he was the runt of his brothers. The
Father’s Day. What does it mean to me? It
tiniest of six, and he fought against that every
day. My father refused to allow anything to hold means remembering a man who gave me the
him back. Standing over six feet by the time balls to walk into a room full of strangers, pull
he reached adulthood, Pop was not a man that up a chair at a bar and strike up a conversation. If
many would test physically, but some would and they turned away, he gave me the courage to say
he accepted every challenge. And as he told the “I don’t give a damn” to keep it moving.
stories to me, he won them all.
Grace and delicate beauty are traits that come
My father used his size and strength to provide straight from my mama. Strength and courage.
for his family. Unfortunately, engaging in physical That’s how I remember Pop.
work took its toll over the years, and by the time
Pop reached his sixties, his body had begun to
give out on him. But not his mind. He remained
feisty and straight-forward. Pop never allowed
anyone or anything to forget he was in a room.
I always say that my mother was the calm to
his storm. I am still baffled on how they became