Monday December 13th was a sad day for our family...Josh's Dad, Kenneth Cooper (POPS) passed away. It was such an amazing, precious experience to be there when he passed...I had never experienced anything like that before, and while I was so sad to know that we would never get to see or "experience" Pops again, it was also SO AMAZING to know that at that very moment he was standing in the presence of JESUS! WOW! I really loved how our Pastor from Clearview put it: "Kenneth Cooper experienced the ultimate healing today" It is so comforting to know that this brave, strong man wasn't having to struggle with his earthly body anymore. I thought it was so touching that after he passed, Bertie was hugging us and telling us how much Kenneth loved us and was proud of us, and Josh replied "I am proud of him too" which is SO true...with all he had been through these past 3 years, I am SO PROUD of his progress, his drive and his faith and optimism and interest in LIVING!
His memorial service on December 18th was really wonderful...I hope that when my times comes to have a memorial service for me, mine can be as beautiful as this one. From the scripture, to the message, to the songs and the wonderful words from close friends, it was all really touching.
My first memory of Kenneth was the summer before I started college at Belmont. He came to orientation with Josh (who was dating SOMEONE ELSE at the time...so I didn't really give him much thought....) and while most of the students were in a big room taking a math placement test, I sat down with Josh's (soon to be ex) girlfriend and his Dad on some couches in the library to wait for our friends to finish. I plopped down on that couch and immediately sprang back up again...the way the vinyl was on the couch, if you sat down too forcefully, it made the LOUDEST POOTING SOUND...which sounded even louder when coupled with the silence of the LIBRARY! My eyes just about bugged out of my head, I was SO embarrassed to have made such a ruckus...and any of you who know Kenneth know that he never EVER let me live that down....EVER!
Another favorite series of memories I have of Kenneth was how much he LOVED to give us a hard time about giving him grandkids...we waited almost 6 years to get pregnant...and sometimes he waited patiently, and sometime not-so patiently....I noticed that he loved giving me a hard time about it...especially when other people were around to hear....so I knew that at least 50% of his messing with me was just that...to bug me...but I also knew that part of it was much he wanted grandkids. One time I really wanted to eat at a Texas style BBQ place near their house, and we called Pops and Bertie up to see if they wanted to come too, and Josh told him that I had a "hankering" for some brisket....Pops got all excited and asked hopefully "a HANKERING, or a CRAVING???" (hoping it might be a pregnancy craving...but it was just a hankering...) and from then out out, anytime I said I was wanting some specific food, we would always have to clarify if it was a "HANKERING or a CRAVING"
In this tribute posting for Pops, I have gone through my files of digital pictures, and tried to find as many as I can of him being POPS with his grandsons....and I'm hoping to be able to get some more off of Bertie's camera soon, since I am not well known for a)remembering to take my camera places and b)using my camera if I actually DO remember to take it somewhere...
anyway, here are some of my favorite pictures of POPS and his grandsons:
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| I love this picture...Pops showed up to bring us some dvds and a bear for me to hug when I coughed/laughed...and at first he wasn't going to hold Jack, but quickly changed his mind and held his grandson...his first time to officially be POPS! |
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| This was taken in our hotel room in Baltimore when our awesome sunday school class flew us up there to visit with Pops. This was the night we arrived! Jack is just over 2 months old |
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| These were all taken on our 1st day in Baltimore in the restaurant in the hotel...Jack was VERY interested in looking at his POPS! |
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| I just love seeing big burly men holding babies! |
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| obviously Jack was comfy! |
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| I love this picture, if I remember correctly, one of us had just made some sort of smart-aleck comment and Pops was about to "zing" us back....wish I could remember what we said! |
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| We got out and about in Baltimore....Mommie, Daddy and Bertie were trying to decide where we were going to go, and Pops just TOOK OFF with Jack all bundled up in the stroller...it was really nice to see him feeling so good! |
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| I'm so glad that we got to go up to Baltimore, because less than a week later Pops got his heart, and life was VERY different after that... |
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| the first time Jack and Pops got to visit about 5 months after the transplant. |
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| snuggle! |
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| trying to steal Jack's passy |
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| Jack's first birthday party, in the hospital. We were so pleased to party with Pops and Bertie, we didn't care WHERE the party happened! |
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| Christmas with the Coopers....after being in the hospital for almost a YEAR, Pops got to come home 3 days before Christmas! I can remember telling Bertie that his homecoming was my favorite Christmas Present EVER! |
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| reading a book at night time....I cant remember how old Jack was here... |
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| Jack was a cowboy for Halloween in 2009, and he enjoyed sharing his hat with POPS! |
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| Christmas 2009, Jack got a Basketball goal....and we all enjoyed watching him play, even POPS |
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| Because of Wesley's rough first month, Pops didn't get to hold him for a while...this is one of the first times he got to hold Wesley. I can remember when Wesley was in the hospital and we were waiting for the news of when he would get to go home, Pops told someone on facebook that Wesley would go home within a week...and I had NO idea where he got that idea....but he totally turned out to be right! |
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Pops on Passy Patrol
That horrible night when we sat with Wesley in the Baptist hospital nicu as they prepared to transfer him to Vandy, Pops and Bertie waited out in the hallway the whole time we were in there. Bertie called Auntie Raychie to come stay with me so that Josh could go with Wesley to Vandy....and when Rachel got there she told me that Pops was "pacing" in the hallway....by zooming back and forth across the hallway in his hover-round wheelchair. I thought that was really cute.
I know it's sideways, but I still love this picture of Jack's first trip on Pops hover-round. He had so much fun playing around with Pops wheels! |
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| Our last time to see Pops...at Jack's 3rd birthday party! |
One of my favorite last memories of Pops was of Thanksgiving night....Pops had always said, even before we had kids, that he really REALLY wanted to take his grandkids fishing (he even had it planned out about what kind of place to go so that the first time the kids can catch a fish and not get disillusioned by the whole experience)....and while he was in Baltimore we found one of those fishing games where the fish go around and around and up and down and the players try to "catch" the fish with the little fishing poles. Jack had tried playing the game by himself, and on Thanksgiving he and Pops got to play it together for the first time...and actually did pretty well! This made me so happy because I grew up with a grandfather who had "limited mobility" and some of my favorite memories were of playing games with him at the kitchen table, and I was looking forward to the time that Jack would be old enough to play games with Pops at the kitchen table...and they DID! I just wish I had gotten a picture of it! I'm so sad that they wont have more of those special times, or that he and his grandsons wont be able to go fishing for real...but don't worry, pops...we...I mean JOSH will take Jack and Wesley fishing...I might go too...as long as all I have to do is hold the pole and not hook any worms or take off any fish! :) I was so proud of my grandaddy who was never limited by his physical limitations, and I am SO proud of you! We will miss you so much Pops, but we are so proud of you, and we hope that we can pass along to our boys your love for life, off-beat sense of humor, strength and dedication and love for your family.
