Goodbye, Pa Jimmy

2 Timothy 4:6-7
6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

We said good-bye to my Pa Jimmy this past week. He passed away during the night on Monday, 12/29. The funeral was in Fort Valley, GA on 12/31. My Uncle Jimbo gave a moving and very sweet eulogy. And I loved Pastor Danny's words that he imagines a room in heaven that makes Books-A-Million look like child's play. And that's where Pa Jimmy will be.

I can hear Pa Jimmy's voice in my head as he said, "Hot dog!" (or "Hot Damn" if you were over the age of 12) and "Well, I'll be darned!" And "Gollllly!" Pa Jimmy let me smoke my first (and only) pipe. Don't remember exactly how old I was, but it was definitely sometime during elementary school. I always thought he was so fancy with his pipe in one hand, gin & tonic in the other and a library book propped in his lap. Pa Jimmy also taught me how to make music with a few crystal goblets filled with varying levels of water. Until I broke one of the goblets. Lesson over. Pa Jimmy's was also the first computer that I remember using. He had a Mac before they were cool. But my favorite memory is how he'd ring a bell that hung outside of the kitchen when it was dinnertime (or he had an important announcement). He'd yell, hoot, holler, stomp and ring that bell. Those were fun times.

Pa Jimmy's Obituary