Honor

Dear Editor:

When I read the article “PSJ Connector Road to Honor Langston,” one question kept going through my mind “how do they (the city commissioners) know what would honor my uncle Dr. David B. Langston?”

My wife and I had the pleasure of going to lunch with Uncle David at Golden Corral in Panama City on a Tuesday before his passing. During the lunch I said to Uncle David, “I now understand why you were hard on us as kids, I understand you stayed on us for every little thing because you loved us and wanted us to do well in life.” Uncle David then said, “Amos it makes me feel good to hear you say this and you are right, I was tough on you guys because I loved you and hearing you say that you got it, let’s me know my message of tough love got through to at least one of you.”

The unexpected passing of Uncle David was truly one of the sadist days of my life. Since that time, I went on to complete all the required classes for me to graduate from Southwestern College on May 9, 2010; I did this in HONOR of my uncle! I do not have to ask or guess if getting my degree would HONOR my uncle because I know without a doubt he wanted everyone in his family to get a college degree, he preached it to us all the time.

My uncle was passionate about his family/friends, education and basketball. So how does naming a street after him equate to honoring him? If the city commissioners really want to HONOR my uncle that would make his family proud, here are a few suggestions:

Donate the money being used on this connector road to the Norris Langston Scholarship Program, Name the High School Gym after him or put a statue of him in front of the High School Gym, or name a library or community education center after him. In my opinion there will be no HONOR bestowed upon my uncle or family name by naming this SMALL connector road after my uncle, he deserves more!  

Sincerely,

Amos Pittman, Jr.