Photo Thoughts Part 2: Pop

This picture was taken on April 20. Yance was six weeks old. It is one of only two pictures I could find of his great-great-grandfather holding him.

Pop died on the morning of August 4.

He was buried on August 6.

At the age of ninety, he had severe dementia and was moved to a retirement home shortly after this picture was taken. Suffering a stroke on July 28, he lived one more week before passing.

I barely knew him. He was my husband's great-grandfather through his father's mother. Yance was the first of two great-great-grandsons that were born before he passed.

I first met Pop on Labor Day 2015, and after that saw him every now and then, mostly on holidays. He had fought in World War II in the Navy, was a mechanic, a volunteer firefighter, and an all-around good man. And he had been married for a total of seventy-one years and six months. Exactly.

Although I knew Pop very little, and his mind was already pretty far gone when I did get to meet him, one could feel the goodness in him. He was loved by friends and family. The church was full Sunday afternoon in celebration of a life well lived. It was bittersweet, for there was much laughter as people recounted stories and good deeds he had done. But there were also tears, for never again will anyone see him on this earth. But his family will go on. And we will meet him in Heaven.

Yance will never remember this great man from whom he descends. But at least he has this picture.

Pop's widow, Yance's great-great-grandmother, loved him so very much, and it hurt to see her mourn him despite her own memory failure. That woman loved her man.

I hope I can love her great-grandson even half as much.

Rest in peace, Pop. And with God's help I will teach Yance to be a great man like yourself.

And thank you for the family you helped build for me to marry into.

*****************************************

This week has been rainy, so not a whole lot has been done. I spent the first part of the week just being lazy, and for the past couple days have been cleaning house. My brother comes down for the weekend, and who knows what will be done - it depends on the weather. I have come up with my NaNoWriMo 2017 project, which I will reveal later, and also have begun editing my A.P. Indy book again. The cover photo has been chosen and the photographer and I will discuss pricing in early November once the book size and print run has been decided.

Yance is rolling over, making faces, experimenting with his voice, and getting on all fours and attempting to crawl. So far it's been unsuccessful, but he is learning how to lunge.

Also, Midget is no longer allowed in the house except for supervised meals because he has this tendency to not use the litter box. Ugh.

Today, I would like to advertise a bamboo cutting board. We have one, though not this one exactly, and the one I'm advertising is organic and eco-friendly, which for those of you that care for that is nice. I think it's pretty great, too! And it costs $20.