Thought of the Day - June 28, 2010

RIP Ali Abdul Malik Shabazz aka Leslie Howard Branch aka Daddy! 3/8/48 - 6/28/08

From Proverbs

"Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad”

It indeed takes a special person to be a dad and Ali Shabazz was a special person. He was the first man to tell me he loved me, first man to give me flowers, first man to tell me anything was possible, first man to expect me to be great and the first man to tell me no one would ever love me the way he did. He was a fun dad and a sucker for his daughters. He would show up to school events in 3 piece suits. He made me feel confident in myself and my abilities. So much so that I would tell teachers when they were wrong and when that landed me in the office, he would show up in his Bus Driver uniform to defend me. He coached me in Track and Field, he was the first man to push me, letting me know always just what was expected of me, excellence! I lived to make him proud and proud he was until the day he died!

He made me believe he would kill any man who did me wrong. (Also that he was superman and we were from the Planet Kryptone, SMH) And with that in my mind I was able to deal with men knowing I had a 6'3 gun toting member of the NRA for a dad who didn't play that! I believe I was lucky. For the man who was my father not only loved me but he adored me. His adoration was much like that of the many dads I have witnessed who love their girls. It matters, it means so much! The love from a dad gives you the confidence to walk away from a man you love because you know he isn't the first and won't be the last, that role belongs to your dad! So for my dad and all the other dads loving their girls from heaven, I say, thank you, we miss you terribly.

Have an appreciative day!

~Maliek~

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