My Paw-Paw passed away a few weeks ago. We traveled to Mississippi to be with our family and attend the funeral.
We got there on Thursday evening and got to spend some time with my cousin's sweet baby, Caroline.
We Skyped with Cousin Carter too!
Caroline loved Sophie.
John Curtis loved Grandma's bathtub.
The funeral on Friday was nice with so many people showing their respects to my Paw-Paw. He was born and raised in Vicksburg, raised his family there, was a coach, teacher, principal and assistant superintendent and touch so many lives.
He was buried next to his parents
in the same
cemetery as the first Mendrop who came over from Germany.
While I heard so many amazing stories about my Paw-Paw,( how he had given them their first job, how he kept them in line in high school, how he greeted them each Sunday at the church door), to me he was just Paw-Paw. He would take us fishing and to the dump (and then candy store). He would drive 8 hours to Texas to see me play a ball game and he drove in his later years to meet both of my children. This larger than life man loved his family and was committed to them and his church. Besides his family, one of his biggest passions was education. He raised 4 children, who all have at least one college degree. He raised those children to be committed to their family and each one is still married to their first spouse. He had 7 grandchildren and lived to see all of them graduate from high school. All of us have either finished or are currently enrolled in college. He got to see 3 of us married and meet 4 great grandchildren. During the last conversation my cousin, who is a freshman at Mississippi State, had with him, he made sure to ask her about her GPA. He was such a special man and he left a huge legacy behind in our family.
This was the last time the kids and I saw my Paw-Paw last Christmas.
Such good memories with this wonderful man!
