This past Saturday Tim, Ella, & I helped Poppa celebrate his 90 years. Many friends and family members from near and far gathered on Winhill Lane to pay tribute to a man who has made such an impression on so many people's lives. I have only known Poppa for a short 10 years, but I know that he is a walking piece of history in Shelby County. He reminds me so much of my Grandfather Griffin. I so wish that Pop & Granddaddy would have had the opportunity to meet. They would have had so much fun trading stories about Ole Miss, hunting, & just the good ole days.....People like Poppa and Grandaddy are few and far between in this day and time. They're a lost generation, but I feel completely blessed to have had them both in my life. Grandparents are such a joy and a wealth of wisdom. I am thankful that Tim's grandparents live w/in a short walk around the corner from our house and that Ella has the opportunity to develop a strong bond and relationship w/ them. That, in itself, is priceless :)
Not only did we have a weekend full of celebrating w/ Pop, but we also had a FULL house with neighborhood kids and cousins coming in and out of our door all weekend- it was GREAT & Ella was in hog heaven! Robbye stayed w/ us Friday night & then Charlie, Ames, Alex, Cami, Callie, Elijah, Clark, & neighbor Faith were in and at of the house Friday & all day Saturday. We were blessed with a beautiful weekend for the festivities to take place outside and for the kids to get to play outside all day. Needless to say, Ella slept well on Saturday night :) Growing up, Betsy and I didn't have cousins our age, so I am so thankful that Ella has cousins in abundance on BOTH sides of our family & that she gets to grow up w/ them so close to her in proximity. I've often heard the quote that "cousins are your first best friends...." There is absolutely some truth to that statement.
Enjoy some pictures below of Pop's celebration.......& Happy 90th Birthday James Allan "Bubba" Blackwell!!!!! We love you, Dad/Poppa/Bubba!
Pop's Birthday Cake (Notice the bow tie? He used to wear bow ties when he worked for the County!)
Blowing Bubbles
The set up in the backyard
Clark & Elijah - Can you tell they're brothers?
Charlie Cross (3.5 years old)
Eating all of the good food for dinner :)
Cousins circled up for prayer
Faith & Alex
Getting ready to sing "Happy Bday to Pop"--See the paparazzi ready to take picts?
Pop giving us some good "words of wisdom"
Family & Friends listening intently ;)
Baby Callie (love those chubby cheeks :) & Jamie
That was then (Wedding Day - 1950)
This is NOW (2013) Married 62 Years and still going strong.
Rice singing to Pop!
Mrs. Beth and I also made a 15 minute slide show for Poppa complete w/ many pictures and videos that we showed to everyone complete w/ appropriate music. It gave Pop a nice stroll down memory lane starting from infancy all the way to the present time. We had baby pictures, pict of his deceased parents and brother, old army pictures w/ old war buddies, picts from his time as a baseball player at Ole Miss, wedding pictures of he and Maw Maw, picts of his growing family of 6, & of course picts of the grands and great grands. Uncle Jimmy sent us a video since he couldn't be there for the event which was very special. Mrs. Beth found and scanned all of the pictures and then I put them together and added music, video, and wording. I think it was a hit- Pop watched it at least 4-5 times the next day often pausing and telling us who was who in the older pictures. Most every picture tells a story behind it. :)
All in all, it was a good time & a wonderful day to pay tribute to such a wonderful man who continues to be a rock in our family. I am honestly blessed to call him my grandfather-in-law & rank him right up there w/ my own grandparents! We love you POPPA!
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