This is the Moth Radio Hour from PRX, and I'm Suzanne Rust, your host for this Father's Day episode.

My dad left me with two memorable pieces of advice.

The first, Suzanne, don't take any crap. Well, the actual word he used was more colorful,

but his point was clear. He didn't mean giving up when things or people became challenging.

It was more about learning to advocate for myself and making sure that I knew that I deserved respect.

To this day, when something feels shady, I hear his words.

The second, Suzanne, tell them who you are.

Well, when I was younger, I didn't know what he was talking about.

But I've come to understand that he wanted me to learn to bring all of the pieces of myself together,

who I am and who I came from, and put them out there with confidence.

When I'm feeling insecure, I try to put this into practice.

My father, Arthur George Russ Jr., was one of the first black sportscasters and went on to become a pioneer of the sports radio genre.

The child of immigrants, a Jamaican father and a Panamanian mother,

he worked hard to get where he was, and his success made me feel like life was full of possibilities.

He loved his work, but he loved me and my mother even more.

We were a happy trio until my mother died rather suddenly when I was just 21.

Dad and I went through hell, but we went through it together.

He's been gone for over a decade now, and not a day goes by when I don't think of him.

A memory, a laugh, or an unanswered question.

And the love? It's always there.

And I tap into it often.

I dedicate this episode to my father and to all the fathers and father figures out there.

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