A King Among Men

On Wednesday a very special man passed away.

I guarantee that you didn’t hear about his passing on tv, the internet, twitter, or even the paper.

Many of you though are well familiar with my cousin T. (She is technically my cousin in law as she is married to my cousin, but we decided long ago to outlaw the in law status.) From time to time I talk about her here and she holds the title of being the only person to ever guest post on my blog. Catherine’s Coach STILL get dozens of hits per day.

Her father, Bernard “Pop” King, helped eat that fantastic cake as he has lived with T. and family for the past several years in their 115 year old home.

Sadly, Pop King left the building and the earth on January 18th.

Pop had just celebrated his 70th birthday last Saturday. It was a grand day.

He’s been retired for quite a few years now as he has been battling a long term illness.

But in his prime Pop was truly a special force of nature and a well loved member of his community.

Pop held a job that many of us probably do not give much thought to. We just expect to see our mailbox full day after day.

Pop was a mail carrier and also kept the United States postal trucks running in tip top shape.

Why just think of what we would miss out on if it wasn’t for Pop?

Pop was the purest essence of a true, devoted friend, possessing good character who brought happiness to many.

I shall always remember his kindness to my children. Pop had just one child (he said she was enough :) cousin T, and one grandchild, Miss M.

But that didn’t stop Pop from loving on my two and making sure they called him “Pop”. On a delightful visit two years ago Pop pulled out his wallet and showed it to Sweet Boy and said, “Look at all these girls. They’re pretty, but I sure need a boy in my wallet.” Upon our return home Sweet Boy would not rest until we found a photo of himself for Pop’s wallet.

Pop I am sure was responsible for half of the some 80,000 votes that were collected when I tried out for Oprah’s OWN network two years ago. I will miss his rugged handsomeness, his sense of humor and loyal patriotism which often showed up in my email inbox.

Everyone should have such a POP of happiness in their lives.

You are welcome to leave a comment for cousin T and our Nene ~ Pop’s lovely wife of 46 years. They are regular readers of the DTA blog.

Bernard King ~ “Friend to many, stranger to none.”

Pop to me,

Laura