Bad, Bad LeRoy Brown

I mustered up the strength to say a prayer, followed by a prayer said by my sister, and we cried.

There were forty-five of his descendants in the waiting room of the hospital. We trailed in and out of his room all day. He was alert and knew everyone by face and name. He kept asking for his youngest son from Florida. It took several hours for my brother to arrive, and Daddy waited … for him. My brother walked in the room, said, “Hey, Dad!” My father responded by uttering his name, and looking upon him one last time. “Babe. Babe. Babe, yeah,” he said. Five minutes later, he took his last breath, and fell asleep in death. He waited for my brother to arrive. He loved him so much he wanted to see him once more. He did. Then he died.

That’s who my father was. Strong willed, determined, and like the song said, he was the, “baddest man in the whole town.”

He’s still the baddest man I’ve ever known.

I love my Daddy. And I always will!