My Pop

With everything that has been going on in my life right now I have forgotten to remember the little things in life. There was a time in my life where I planned on being single and free for a while but God had a different plan for me at the time. I don't know why yet he put that person in my life at the time He did but one I hope to realize it.

The other day I was looking at some old blogs I had written on facebook and came across one I had written about my grandfather, Grady Franklin "Frank" Eads, or as I know him... Pop.

I took this picture at Christmas before Pop got really sick in February.

Pop had Melanoma, a type of skin cancer. It started on the back of his neck with a little mole, spread to his lungs I don't know how many time, his brain 3 times and then to his stomach. Pop lived with cancer for 16 years before he passed away on November 24, 2005, Thanksgiving Day.

Because Pop lived with this cancer for so long he became a test patient at The National Institute of Health in Maryland. Him and Nana would fly up there and Pop would go through his treatments then fly back home. The doctors would tell him to stay in bed to get rest. Well here is the thing, Nana and Pop owned a 144+ acre farm in Alabama with cows and 2 chicken houses. Pop being the stubborn one didn't follow the doctors orders and would be out on the farm the next day.

Everyone in the family truly believes that this is what kept Pop going. He loved the farm and loved being on the tractor moving things or tearing things up. I can remember spending summers down there after we moved and going on the tractor with him. There was one time that my brother and I spent time down there one summer and Pop took us a ride on the four wheeler. We went to the back of the farm and Pop told us that he was clearing this land out so that all the grand kids could build houses on it one day. Even though we sold the farm and land after Pop passed away this memory will always last with me.

Pop loved Dr. Pepper! He would take Dr. Pepper over any other kind of drink. Whenever I drink a Dr. Pepper it makes me think of him. When we barred him, my brother placed a Dr. Pepper can in the casket with him. The funeral home guys tried taking it out but we told them that if they did they would be dead. I can remember spending hours sitting at the kitchen table playing checkers with Pop sipping on Dr. Pepper. Perfect way to end a long hot summer day!

$5 bills will always hold a special place in my heart and not because of the value. Every time we would go see Nana and Pop, he would give us $5. This is something that when I have grand kids I will do. I will tell them stories about Pop and say that this was something he would do.

I miss him a whole lot! Little things that I do remind me of him and things the other grand kids do remind all of us of him. My little cousin Lannie is a lot like Pop. Bev will tell us stories about something Lannie did and we will all say "Grady Franklin".

The other day I wasn't feeling good so I didn't go into my day job and just layed around the house. While I was getting ready I had on the radio to a country station I listen to all the time. They have what they call a "Beaver Back Track" everyday where they play a older song that doesn't get played much. Well the song then was Vince Gill's Go Rest High On That Mountain. When I heard this song I just sat down on my bed and started crying. This song was played at Pop's funeral. We had some trouble with the pastor over this song but in the end everything worked out great! I never knew until Pop passed away that while Pop was up on his mountain on the farm that Nana would play this song. She would be so scared that this tractor was going to tip over while he was on it.

Pop would be so proud of the young lady that I am becoming and what I am doing with my life. During the fall every Saturday I think of him while watching an University of Alabama football game. Pop is the one who got me into Bama football. I was able to go to a game this past season and all I could think about was how I wished he would have been with me.

I know that he is up in heaven and I will get to see him one day. I wrote this blog today because last night when we had a thunderstorm the thunder was extremely loud! When a thunderstorm came and the thunder was that loud Pop would always say "Well sounds like God is bowling again and sounds like he is doing really good."