"My heart and flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
Psalm 73:26, NIV
After saying "see you soon" to another grandparent, one thing resonates with me- God's faithfulness to the generations. After my Papa's funeral, I wanted to start a family to carry on his legacy. I have the same yearning after Poppy's. I hope Nate and I can carry on the legacy of the GENUINE, Christ-following man my Poppy was. Poppy loved people. This was not a secret. His house was always open, and he greeted friends with food, a swim and a good story. He loved kids. I loved hearing about how he would get to know the kids on the baseball teams he coached whose parents were not at the games. He would help them. I loved hearing how in 20+ years of daddy and my uncle playing youth, high school and college sports, he never missed a game. I loved hearing how Poppy supported my dad and uncle so they could follow their career goals. I love the way my dad and uncle love their families. I know it is because of the example of their father. I love that he loved my grandmother since grade school, and I love that they were married 59 years and 11 months.
He was the youngest of 5 siblings and the first to pass. But, even at 80, he's just not the kind of guy I think about being gone. He was supposed to "coach" the Hey Dad softball games on Sunday and take his buddy to a doctor appointment on Tuesday. He was also supposed to meet baby girl...
He would have loved to meet baby girl...I can picture him holding her and singing her a good Southern Gospel song...
I won't forget the countless Cathedral concerts, the nose-plugged Shamu jumps in the pool, rolling my eyes at his stories (and rightly so...I mean, did you hear some of those stories?!), the suspenders, the candy, the kisses on my cheek or watching him watch a game.
Kenzie said it best when he passed, "He's giving Jesus a high-four!"
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