‘I just want to make you proud’: Eastside’s Langston carries on legacy of late father

Tim Langston (left) passed away in April 2021. His only son, Barnett, hopes to carry on his legacy of drive, passion, and love for those around him.

This time of year takes Barnett Langston back.

Four years ago, Langston ran around in his front yard on a sunny April afternoon. Then a rising freshman, Langston was dribbling a soccer ball, playing keep-away with his family’s dog — an American Pitbull Terrier named Riptide.

Across the yard stood Barnett’s father, Tim. 

Tim grinned as Riptide frantically chased after that soccer ball to no avail. Whenever Riptide had his son cornered, Barnett would pass the ball over to his father. 

He was growing up right in front of Tim’s eyes. Good luck finding a prouder father. 

“My dad was always pushing me to be the best I could be,” said Barnett. “He was everything you’d want your father to be. There was always so much love.”

Timothy “Tim” Langston was, as Barnett describes, “one very large man.” He was well over six feet tall and sported a full head of thick, dark hair on his head. Timothy’s trademark was a pair of circular glasses and a smile soft as a cloud. He was unmistakable. You just couldn’t miss him.

Four years later, though, Barnett misses him. He misses his dad more than anything in this world.

That afternoon in the yard — playing keep-away with Riptide — was the final memory Barnett made with his father. Timothy laid down on the living room couch that same night to watch some TV and get some sleep.

He never woke up.

Barnett and his mother found Timothy unresponsive early the following morning.

“It was out of the blue, so sudden,” said Barnett. “My dad had always had heart issues, and he was actually on medication for his heart and his anxiety. But when COVID hit, he stopped being able to go in and get his heart tangibly monitored by a doctor. It ended up that half of his heart was larger than the other. 

“That night, he just laid down and passed away.”

A STRAIGHT SHOOTER

Wrestling. Soccer. Gymnastics. As a kid, Barnett kept his father busy. He played all three sports, often filling his weekday evenings with practices and games.

Tim drove him everywhere.

“He took me to literally everything. To me, that’s the biggest thing a parent can do,” said Barnett. “I went from one sport to the next. He would get off from work, and that would be his main thing. He just wanted to make sure he got back home in time to pick me up and take me where I needed to go.”

Barnett and Tim bonded over sports. Tim was a collegiate football player at Central Arkansas in the early 1990s. He didn’t play the sports the Barnett took interest in, but that didn’t stop him from being an invested, supportive father.

“He played football and some baseball, but he always told me he wished he’d wrestled,” said Barnett. “He loved the one-on-one aspect. He always drove that idea in me. When you get out there on the mat, it’s all about who’s going to be the better man in that moment.”

“Tim loved watching Barnett in sports more than anything,” said Elizabeth Langston, Barnett’s mother and Tim’s late wife. “As Barnett got older, they loved discussing sports and talking to each other after Barnett’s games. That’s something that I knew Barnett would miss as soon as Tim passed.”

Elizabeth and Barnett Langston on wrestling Senior Night at Eastside. (PHOTO | LEIGH CLEMENT)

After Barnett’s wins — whether in youth wrestling or on his CESA youth soccer team — Tim was always the first to congratulate his son and hug him in celebration. 

After Barnett’s losses, Tim was blunt in his critiques. He was always a straight shooter, Elizabeth recalls, even when Barnett didn’t necessarily want to hear it.

Tim always made sure, however, to sandwich his criticism in between compliments.

“He never came down too hard. There was always a positive comment after a loss in the car ride home,” said Elizabeth. “Barnett, just like Tim, has always been super competitive, so he was never happy after a loss. But Tim would always point out something about Barnett that he was proud of from that game. ‘Keep doing that, that was working.’ Things like that.”

Elizabeth, much like Barnett, remembers the day of Tim’s passing vividly. April 8, 2021.

She was driving home from visiting family in Atlanta that morning. She called around 7:30 a.m. to see if Tim was awake yet. After no answer, she assumed he’d simply overslept.

As soon as Elizabeth walked in the door, she called out her husband’s name. But when she turned the corner into the living room, she just knew.

“He was very peaceful,” said Elizabeth. “He had reclined all the way back in his chair and died in his sleep. He still had the remote for the TV sitting on his chest.”

She prepared Barnett for what he was about to see when she heard her son wake up and begin coming down the stairs. After taking a few minutes to process what was going on, Barnett was the one who called 911.

“I’ll never forget it,” said Barnett. “I know my dad always said he wanted to pass in his sleep, to pass peacefully. I take some heart knowing he didn’t suffer.”

First responders arrived on the scene 10 minutes later. As Elizabeth and Barnett watched them take away the body of a husband and a father, they looked at one another. Elizabeth gave Barnett a tight hug.

“I told Barnett I was not going to lay down on him. I was going to be there for him through all of this,” said Elizabeth. “I told him ‘I don’t know how we will get through this. But whatever it takes, we are going to get through it.”

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

April 3rd was Senior Night for Eastside soccer. Barnett — now 18 and finishing up his final year of high school — stood in front of a packed crowd, arm-in-arm with Elizabeth. 

Just before Barnett’s name was called over the loudspeakers, before he and his mother walked out together, he looked over at Elizabeth and smiled.

“We made it,” Barnett said.

Four years after Tim’s passing, Elizabeth’s words to her son were made good. She still doesn’t know exactly how the two of them got through such an unspeakable tragedy. But they did get through it, just as she said they would. Several men in Barnett’s life, including Eastside wrestling coaches Dave Maholtz and Jack Kosmicki, have stepped up as fatherly figures since Tim’s passing.

Barnett (right) stood arm-in-arm with his mother, Elizabeth Langston on Senior Night for Eastside soccer on April 3.

PHOTO | JILL HARRIS

“That was such a proud moment for Barnett. He made it through that four-year mark. He didn’t have his dad for all of high school, for all of those high school sports games,” said Elizabeth. “But he made it. That was an emotional moment, a very proud moment for him.”

Barnett has been a captain for Eastside soccer for the last two years. He plays as a center-back for the Eagles. On the field, he’s the unquestioned vocal leader of the team. Barnett plays with a competitive drive and passion rivaled by few in the state. 

He gets it from his dad.

“My father was a true leader,” said Barnett. “He always instilled in me how to be a leader through actions and by being vocal. The drive and passion that I have in everything I do, that all comes from him.”

A two-year captain for Eastside soccer, senior Barnett Langston is known for his passion and drive on the pitch. Those are traits he got from his late father, he says.

PHOTO | JILL HARRIS

“The dichotomy of Barnett Langston is having this insanely powerful desire and will to win at all times, while also having a strong love for people and wanting to help and love as many people as you can,” said Eastside soccer head coach Stephen Wood. “From everything I’ve heard about his father, that’s exactly who Tim was when he was on this Earth, too.”

Tim wasn’t fortunate enough to be there for Barnett’s biggest high school sports moments, whether for Eastside wrestling or soccer. Barnett couldn't hug his father after getting accepted into his dream school, Baylor University. 

Everything Barnett does, however, is for his dad. The man who held him in his arms when he was a boy. He still feels his father holding onto him from above today.

He can’t hold back the tears as he thinks about how far he’s come — and how much he hopes his dad is watching from heaven.

“I wish he was still here, just so I could tell him thank you for everything,” said Barnett. “I’d tell him, ‘I love you so much. And I’m sorry if I didn't say I loved you more. I know you worked insanely hard. I mean, you did a perfect job as my dad.’

“I just want to make you proud. I really hope I am.”