From Good to Bad

What started out as a nice story on former Xavier guard Lenny Brown...

In the five-plus years since he graduated from Xavier University, Lenny Brown had gotten used to receiving the letters most college alumni receive from their alma maters.

So it wasn't a big deal last month when Brown opened another piece of mail from Xavier probably asking for a donation to the university or the alumni association or whatever group that needed support.

But then, Brown read a little closer.

"It wasn't asking for donations," Brown said.

The letter was from Xavier president Michael Graham. It was a congratulatory note sent to inform the school's fifth all-time leading scorer that he was going to be inducted into Xavier's Athletic Hall of Fame.

...quickly turned bad:

"There's not a lot of opportunities here in Delaware," said Brown, who was almost swallowed by the dangerous streets of Wilmington in high school.

"I want to take advantage of attending a school like Xavier, get a job. I've talked to my teammates, Gary Lumpkin, Sherwin Anderson. They said, 'Come on and don't even worry about it. Xavier will take care of you.' "

So now Brown is torn.

He has two sons and a daughter who live in Wilmington but a heart that wants him to return to Cincinnati.

He hasn't figured out how the relationship with his kids will work if he moves to Cincinnati. He can think about those details later, though.

This is a microcosm of society in general, the black community in particular. Children (in this case, two sons and a daughter) are relegated to details that can be worked out later. They take a back seat to the wants and desires of their father.

A real father sacrifices his desires and dreams for the good of his children. At least, that used to be the case.